Alice's Book

Reviews / Votes

A remarkable and important book * BBC Radio 4 "Woman's Hour" * A gripping piece of 20th-century family history but also something much more original: a rare insight into the "Aryanisation" of Jewish-authored books during the Nazi regime. Urbach has meticulously pieced together everything she could find about how and why Alice's publishers were able to deny her authorship for more than 80 years . . . It's impossible to read this moving and clear-eyed book without admiring Alice's fiercely optimistic spirit -- Bee Wilson * Financial Times * In a remarkable new book, Alice's granddaughter Karina, a noted historian, has traced what happened to her family but also what happened to the cookbook. -- Daniel Finkelstein Unputdownable . . . I have read all Urbach's historical books with high admiration, but none of them can match this story, for its sheer oddity . . . By telling the story of the brazen theft of a cookbook, and the fate of its title long after the war, Urbach has also retold the tragic Holocaust story in quite unforgettable lines. -- A.N. Wilson Unlike Nazi art theft, about which there are many excellent books, there has been surprisingly little research into the Nazi theft of Jewish authorship . . . As this engaging memoir, smoothly translated by Jamie Bulloch, makes clear, the theft of the cookbook remained for Alice's entire life the symbol of everything that had been stolen from her. -- Caroline Moorehead * TLS * An unputdownable narrative, told with remarkable restraint. * Spectator Books of the Year 2022 * This fascinating book shines a spotlight on this lesser-known aspect of Nazi looting. -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times * The extraordinary story of a phenomenal woman with a cookery school in pre-war Vienna . . . Thanks to [Urbach's] research, recognition and copyright was restored to Alice's descendants in 2021. * Tablet * A fascinating family history [about] a little-known strand of Nazi persecution. -- Matthew Reisz * Spectator * The sheer pettiness of the crime adds to our understanding of the Nazi intent: to rob Jews of any shred of standing, dignity or entitlement . . . Alice's is a story worth telling. -- Jenni Frazer * Jewish Chronicle * This new book is an important act of reclamation * Prospect Magazine Books of the Year * Engaging, elegant and moving . . . a compelling fusion of meticulous history accounting and a family memoir. -- Richard Cockett * Literary Review * What the historian has brought to light is perfect film material - persecution, murder, fraud, imprisonment, escape, rescue, friendship, secret service activities, rise, fall and a new beginning . . . And Urbach's writing is exciting, cinematic. -- Susanne Kippenberger * Tagesspiegel * Exciting, moving, informative - this family memoir belongs on the bestseller list. Simply terrific! -- Mike Altwicker * WDR * A remarkable book . . . The author describes the slow expropriation of Alice Urbach - a fate she shared with many Jewish authors. -- Martin Doerry * Spiegel * Karina Urbach not only reconstructs individual fates from family correspondence and tape interviews from her grandmother's estate, she also draws on a myriad of archives. [...] The fact that she - a traditional historian who is aware of the dangers of a lack of emotional distance - manages this without sentimentality is an achievement in itself. The facts are moving enough. -- Walter Schuebler * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung * Exciting, touching and insightful: Karina Urbach has written a great book about a strong woman who could not be shaken by anything and who turned her little happiness into happiness for others -- Heribert Prantl * Sueddeutsche Zeitung * A remarkable and important book * BBC Radio 4 "Woman's Hour" *