This collection of 33 stories charts the development of themes and styles in Jewish fiction from the late-19th century to the end of the 20th. Alongside the grand themes of intellectual disillusionment and the huge political changes which Jewish writers have had to come to terms with, there are more intimate explorations of human relationships, and of individual triumph and anguish within the complexities of 20th-century life. As well as established writers such as Amos Oz and David Grossman it includes less well-known Hebrew writers, appearing in English translation for the first time.