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A Delayed Life
A Delayed Life
Sep 19, 2024 11:55 PM

Author:Dita Kraus

A Delayed Life

The powerful, heart-breaking memoir of Dita Kraus, the real-life Librarian of Auschwitz

Born in Prague to a Jewish family in 1929, Dita Kraus has lived through the most turbulent decades of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Here, Dita writes with startling clarity on the horrors and joys of a life delayed by the Holocaust. From her earliest memories and childhood friendships in Prague before the war, to the Nazi-occupation that saw her and her family sent to the Jewish ghetto at Terezín, to the unimaginable fear and bravery of her imprisonment in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, and life after liberation.

Dita writes unflinchingly about the harsh conditions of the camps and her role as librarian of the precious books that her fellow prisoners managed to smuggle past the guards. But she also looks beyond the Holocaust – to the life she rebuilt after the war: her marriage to fellow survivor Otto B Kraus, a new life in Israel and the happiness and heartbreaks of motherhood.

Part of Dita's story was told in fictional form in the Sunday Times bestseller The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. Her memoir tells the full story in her own words.

Reviews

Knowing Dita Kraus is one of the most important things that has happened in my life

—— ANTONIO ITURBE, bestselling author of THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ

Her resilience makes A Delayed Life an inspiriting book, despite its horrors. It is unforgettable. A must read...

—— The Sunday Times

Gripping

—— Mail Online

[A] fascinating book… Moorhouse has mastered a large body of material… this is…a very valuable book, as it gathers a mass of detail into a lucid narrative for general readers

—— Noel Malcolm , Sunday Telegraph

An important book. Roger Moorhouse has a wonderful knack of reminding us about the parts of the Second World War that we are in danger of forgetting

—— Dan Snow

[A] timely and authoritative book… Moorhouse… has trawled through an impressive quantity of unpublished Polish and German sources…to produce a balanced account of this much neglected yet important episode of the second world war which is both harrowing and inspiring

—— Adam Zamoyski , Spectator

A well-researched, riveting read

—— Alexander Watson , BBC History, *Books of the Year*

[A] very valuable addition to the literature on the outbreak of the Second World War… The great strength of this new account lies in the extensive use of Polish sources, all too often overlooked entirely when trying to piece together the history of the campaign... Moorhouse... admirably achieves his aim of putting the Polish-German war back onto the broader canvas of the Second World War

—— Richard Overy , History Today

Exemplary... as good as military history can be

—— Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny

If you only read one book on D-Day, this should probably be it. It places a microscope on the preparation and the 24-hours of D-Day itself, using interviews and memoirs from veterans to bring the events vividly to life.

—— Editor's Choice , The Connexion

I've long admired the skill and independence with which Hersh has brought important and concealed information to light

—— Ahmed Rashid, Praise for THE KILLING OF OSAMA BIN LADEN , New York Review of Books

One of the most skilled investigative journalists in American history shares his saga in compelling detail ... Hersh takes readers behind the scenes as he exposes corrupt U.S. foreign policy, Defense Department bumbling in numerous wars, political coverups during Watergate, private sector corporate scandals, and torture tactics used by the U.S. government against alleged terrorists after 9/11. The author shares insightful (and sometimes searing) anecdotes about fellow journalists, presidents and their cronies, military generals, and numerous celebrities. Readers interested in a primer about investigative techniques will find Hersh a generous teacher. Candor is the driving force in this outstanding book. Rarely has a journalist's memoir come together so well, with admirable measures of self-deprecation, transparent pride, readable prose style, and honesty.

—— Starred Kirkus Review

Powerful . . . There's gripping journalistic intrigue aplenty as [Hersh] susses out sources and documents, fences with officials, and fields death threats. . . . Hersh himself is brash and direct, but never cynical, and his memoir is as riveting as the great journalistic exposés he produced.

—— Publishers Weekly

Candid and revelatory . . . Compared to the contemporary field of blogs, bots, and opinion-driven reportage, the last half of the twentieth-century can look like the heyday of honest and critical journalism. But even now, Hersh remains at the vanguard of tenacious and purposeful writers who speak truth to power, and surely he's inspiring the best at work now. Journalism junkies will devour this insider's account of a distinguished career.

—— Booklist

Reporter is just wonderful. Truly a great life, and what shines out of the book, amid the low cunning and tireless legwork, is Hersh's warmth and humanity. Essential reading for every journalist and aspiring journalist the world over

—— John le Carré

This novel as a whole attests to Mr. Ackerman's breadth of understanding - an understanding not just of the seasonal rhythms of war in Afghanistan and the harsh, unforgiving beauty of that land, not just of the hardships of being a soldier there, but a bone-deep understanding of the toll that a seemingly endless war has taken on ordinary Afghans who have known no other reality for decades.

—— Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

Elliot Ackerman has done something brave as a writer and even braver as a soldier: He has touched, for real, the culture and soul of his enemy

—— Tom Bissell, (The New York Times Book Review)

Bouverie… retells [the story of appeasement] with gusto

—— Dominic Sandbrook , Sunday Times

Bouverie gives a lucid account… [and] skilfully traces each shameful step to war… which he describes in moving and dramatic detail

—— Lewis Jones , Sunday Telegraph

Gripping.. Bouverie has written a searching, wide-ranging, and above all readable chronology of a shameful era of British history… a very cautionary tale

—— Nigel Jones , Spectator

[An] impressive and very readable account

—— Tony Rennell , Daily Mail

Tim Bouverie’s first historical work… is a well-argued, lucid case for the prosecution of the appeasers

—— David Aaronovitch , The Times, *Book of the Week*

So assured is Bouverie’s writing, and so sound his judgments, that it is hard to believe that Appeasing Hitler is his first book. It is a wonderful debut that marks the arrival of a young historian to watch

—— Saul David , Evening Standard, *Book of the Week*

[An] accomplished and lucid account

—— Josh Ireland , Prospect

Bouverie’s well-written Appeasing Hitler aims to provide a timeless lesson on the challenges of standing up to aggression.

—— Jo Johnson , Financial Times

Bouverie has mined an impressive range of sources and quotes from them judiciously. His narrative is lucid, his prose efficient, his put-downs witty… [he] tells an important story well.

—— Lucy Hughes-Hallett , New Statesman

The skill with which Tim Bouverie navigates here through the worlds of politics, officialdom and diplomacy is quite exemplary… his explanations of complex issues are always lucid; his narrative style is thoughtful, unshowy and always a pleasure to read… This is, quite simply, the best book ever to have appeared on this whole subject

—— Noel Malcolm , Oldie

Bouverie’s Appeasing Hitler provides a meticulous picture of a Britain that faced very different problems from our own

—— Thelma Lovell , Catholic Herald

Scrupulously fair, [and a] readable account… [an] excellent book

—— Marcus Tanner , Tablet

Appeasing Hitler…is a staggeringly good account of the build-up to the Second World War… gripping, dramatic and revelatory

—— Christian May , City AM

Bouverie’s prose is fluent and assured throughout. Those in search of an entertaining read will find one… an admirable retelling of traditional history

—— Robert Crowcroft , History Today

An enthralling, nuanced tale… the narrative is absolutely compelling

—— Times Literary Supplement

An elegantly written account by a rising young historian

—— The Times, *Summer reads of 2019*

This is a gripping account of the wishful thinking that led us to the precipice

—— Neil Armstrong and Hephzibah Anderson , Mail on Sunday, *Summer reads of 2019*

There is a sure command of narrative and judgment in faultlessly lucid prose, with subtexts of pathos

—— Bruce Anderson , Spectator

A fascinating narrative on the politics of wishful thinking and the law of unintended consequences in international relations

—— Ali Ansari , History Today, *Books of the Year*

[A] finely researched and well-argued book

—— Daily Mail, *Books of the Year*

[A] phenomenal book

—— William Keegan , Observer

Excellent

—— Andrew Roberts , Wall Street Journal

Excellent and compelling

—— William Leith , Evening Standard
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