Anna and Tranquillo

Reviews / Votes

"Kenneth Stow's lucid and moving book irrefutably shows that the Catholic campaign to convert Jews not only was a historic crime, but remains evidence of a deep disorder in the Faith. Reform-minded Christians, especially, need Stow's work; so does everyone who would purge religion of bigotry and contempt."-James Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword and Christ Actually -- James Carroll "Part gripping narrative and part learned analysis, Anna and Tranquillo will be of interest to anyone wishing to learn about the historical roots of contemporary debates on citizenship in Western democratic countries. A valuable and engaging read."-Francesca Trivellato, author of The Familiarity of Strangers: The Sephardic Diaspora, Livorno, and Cross-Cultural Trade in the Early Modern Period -- Francesca Trivellato "Anna's gripping account reminds us of how intensely religious difference mattered in the Enlightenment. Stow's vivid translation and masterful analysis show how attempts to force conversion would remain entirely legal, and a threat to all Roman Jews, until the very basis of law and citizenship changed."-Nicholas Terpstra, author of Religious Refugees in the Early Modern World: An Alternative History of the Reformation -- Nicholas Terpstra "A truly riveting account. Nothing else like it exists for the modern period."-David Sorkin, author of The Religious Enlightenment: Protestants, Jews and Catholics from London to Vienna -- David Sorkin "Kenneth Stow, a leading scholar in medieval and Renaissance Jewish history, has offered a new entry into the canon of early Jewish, Italian, and women's autobiographies. Stow offers an elegant translation, a sound apparatus, and an introduction that puts it in the context of not only Italian Jewish history, but in the process of modernization as Jews literally left the ghetto and began to enter modernity during the eighteenth century."-Howard Tzvi Adelman, Department of History and Program in Jewish Studies, Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario -- Howard Tzvi Adelman