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5.0 out of 5 stars
Understanding a world through one man's lifestory, February 17, 2008
This review is from: Earl of Petticoat Lane (Hardcover)
Henry Freedman was an iconic product of his time and place and his grandson Andrew Miller, bureau chief of the Moscow office of The Economist, writes the story of his grandfather's life as an early 20th-century poor child of eastern European Jewish immigrants who fled the pogroms for the safety of England. The book is laced with affection and understanding, but manages to retain an objectivity as it examines Henry's struggle to rise in the rigid British society of the time and both make his fortune and achieve gentility. As the ex-wife of one of Henry's sons, I am profoundly grateful to Andrew for helping me to understand much about my ex-father-in-law that was incomprehensible during my marriage and also for reminding me vividly of the England that I grew up in; one that now hardly exists any more. Full disclosure of the relationship in no way diminishes the value of this review; the book is highly readable and very informative. Henry becomes someone as real to the reader as he was in real life,and very loveable, though at times one might disapprove of some of his actions and attitudes. Really worth reading.
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