The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
by Diane Ackerman
List Price:
Our Price: $14.73
You Save: $9.22 (38%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $13.75 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Diane AckermanEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2007-09-04
ISBN: 0393061728
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Book Reviews of The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
Book Review: The Zookeeper's Wife
Summary: 5 Stars
Oh my goodness, what a wonderful story. Set in the period leading up to and during WWII in Warsaw, Poland, this historical novel brings out the true meaning of human kindness and cruelty, human hope and despair. It is beautifully written and moves with incredible swiftness towards an inevitable conclusion. Enjoy!
Summary of The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
Amazon Significant Seven, September 2007: On the heels of Alan Weisman's The World Without Us I picked up Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife. Both books take you to Poland's forest primeval, the Bialowieza, and paint a richly textured portrait of a natural world that few of us would recognize. The similarities end there, however, as Ackerman explores how that sense of natural order imploded under the Nazi occupation of Poland. Jan and Antonina Zabiniski--keepers of the Warsaw Zoo who sheltered Jews from the Warsaw ghetto--serve as Ackerman's lens to this moment in time, and she weaves their experiences and reflections so seamlessly into the story that it would be easy to read the book as Antonina's own miraculous memoir. Jan and Antonina's passion for life in all its diversity illustrates ever more powerfully just how narrow the Nazi worldview was, and what tragedy it wreaked. The Zookeeper's Wife is a powerful testament to their courage and--like Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise--brings this period of European history into intimate view. --Anne BartholomewA true story—as powerful as Schindler's List—in which the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.
When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw—and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants—otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.
With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonina refused to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her. 8 pages of illustrations.
Eastern Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Jewish Thought
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)by Michael Chabon
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.85
Price in other shops:
The Torah: A Women's CommentaryURJ Press; Published: 2007-12-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $47.25
Price in other shops:
Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacyby Shmuley Boteach
Main Street Books; Published: 2000-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Storyby Diane Ackerman
W. W. Norton; Published: 2007-09-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.88
Price in other shops:
The Torah For Dummies (For Dummies (Religion & Spirituality))by Arthur Kurzweil
For Dummies; Published: 2008-01-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.92
Price in other shops:
Food for the Soul: Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eatingby Chana Rubin
Gefen Publishing House; Published: 2008-05-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.95
Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversionby Marc D. Angel
Ktav Publishing House; Published: 2005-06-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops:
On Women & Judaismby Blu Greenberg
Jewish Publication Society of America; Published: 1981-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.17
Price in other shops:
To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Lifeby Hayim Halevy Donin
Basic Books; Published: 2001-09-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $136.12
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism, 2nd Edition (The Complete Idiot's Guide)by Rabbi Benjamin Blech
Alpha; Published: 2003-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.25
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape, and a House in Marseilleby Rosemary Sullivan
Harper Perennial; Published: 2007-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.26
Price in other shops:
Bridge of Sighsby Richard Russo
Knopf; Published: 2007-09-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops:
The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father's Nazi Boyhoodby Mark Kurzem
Viking Adult; Published: 2007-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.43
Price in other shops:
Songs Without Wordsby Ann Packer
Knopf; Published: 2007-09-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops:
Runby Ann Patchett
Harper; Published: 2007-09-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.20
Price in other shops:
The Septembers of Shirazby Dalia Sofer
Ecco; Published: 2007-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.47
Price in other shops:
Fire in the Bloodby Irene Nemirovsky
Knopf; Published: 2007-09-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.74
Price in other shops:
People of the Book: A Novelby Geraldine Brooks
Viking Adult; Published: 2008-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.60
Price in other shops:
Away: A Novelby Amy Bloom
Random House; Published: 2007-08-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
The Street of a Thousand Blossomsby Gail Tsukiyama
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2007-09-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.47
Price in other shops: