THE JEW OF ROME

Josephus was -- we believe -- the first of the modern decade successes in dramatic biography, historical fiction based on classical figures. I, Claudius and others have proved that the interest is there to be tapped, as it was in the days of Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur. Now comes The Jew of Rome, in a sense a sequel to Josephus, but not dependent on it for interest or intelligibility. (Speaking from experience -- for I'd not read the earlier book until the new one spurred me on to turn back to it. I think this the better book!) -- A gripping and powerful biographical novel of the years of Titus and Domitian, with the Jewish historian as the central figure. Roman -- Jew -- Greek --Egyptian at conflict one with the other. A struggling groping for a rationalization of it all in the mind and soul and heart of the man who had been accused of apostasy by his race and faith, who was still on sufferance with his adopted people. There's a timelessness in his inner conflict that gives the story a poignant modernity. Exciting reading, for everyone; an important contribution to Jewish literature and should prove a best seller in both markets. Feuchtwanger's name and fame have grown, with The Oppermanns. Sell on quality of book -- and the author's previous successes as well.