Although Tightrope is only just over 400 pages, and 50 of those are footnotes this book definitely goes in the saga category. It is an impressive work that comes as a result of over 20 years research. In a nutshell it follows one single family and its various branches through over six centuries of upheaval. If you ask the average man in the street to describe the plight of the Jewish people, almost everyone will zone in on the current situation in Israel, and the events that unfolded during World War Two when the Nazi’s attempted to annihilate the entire race. Few people realize that horrific as the Holocaust was, it was hardly the first time that Jews had been persecuted. In fact the persecution can be documented from biblical times onward. Michael Karpin follows one single family, the Backenroth’s, the tale begins in 1350 with their perilous trek from what is now called Germany eastward to Poland. The reason…

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