Opinions
MORE THAN twenty years ago, Violette Shamash sat down to write the first of what would turn out to be a fount of wonderful recollections of a lost era: the story of the Jews of Iraq in the first half of the 20th century. She little suspected how compelling a narrative they would form, or how vividly they would convey the significance of what she had lived through.
Leading historians and writers are voicing their praise for Memories of Eden, the book based on these unpublished memoirs.
Sir Martin Gilbert says: ‘This is both a fascinating and important book, and I will certainly be referring to it in my new history of the Jews of Arab lands.’
Rabbi Dame Julia Neuberger (Baroness Neuberger) says: ‘I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed Memories of Eden. I have become increasingly fascinated by the life of Jews in Baghdad and by the warm relationships that existed across faiths and communities.’
For Dr Bernhard Fulda, Director of Studies in History at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, the book represents ‘family history at its best – evocative, revealing and moving.’ He adds: ‘Violette’s memoirs are not just elegantly written; they have a dreamlike quality which one does not encounter in work of history very often’.
Author and broadcaster William Shawcross, an acknowledged expert on today’s Iraq, finds the work ‘Superbly readable… An astonishing record’. Fellow author Edwin Black (Banking on Baghdad ) calls it ‘captivating’; Oxford Professor Avi Shlaim hails its uniqueness and Professor Shmuel Moreh of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, says he has discovered ‘an enjoyable treasure house of information’. (See Reviews for full context.)
In a Foreword, Professor Moreh – Israel Prize Laureate and Chairman of the Association of Jewish Academics from Iraq in Israel – writes:
‘These memoirs have only one motive: to leave for posterity a record of the daily lives led by our forefathers. In this they succeed brilliantly, for this is a real testament to a vanished way of life and a language that is also sadly disappearing.’