The Shadow and the Flame

Loss, Survival, and the Making of Holocaust Memory

The Shadow and the Flame is the sweeping and definitive history of the fight for Holocaust memory and the larger intellectual debates that raged around its memorial from the end of World War II to the present day.

In 1945, the end of World War II and the liberation of the Nazi camps ended the catastrophe that we now know as the Holocaust. Stunned by grief, survivors faced the task of not only forging new lives but also shaping how this cataclysm might be remembered by generations to come.

The Shadow and the Flame takes as its subject the fierce intellectual battle that ensued – the first of its kind, and one that spanned decades and continents. Acclaimed historian James McAuley takes us into the minds and hearts of the individuals – many well-known, others largely forgotten – who waged that dispute in Europe, the United States, and Israel: from Hannah Arendt, whose reporting from the Eichmann trial enraged her fellow Jews; to Sol Baron, the era’s preeminent Jewish historian who battled to protect the story of his people from the burden of tragedy; to Elie Wiesel, whose account of life at Auschwitz became the one the world chose to embrace, even as it alienated many of his peers.

McAuley transports us from Paris to New York, from the desecrated ghettos of Poland to the newly established state of Israel, as the event we now call the Holocaust made an uneasy transition into memory – one that, far from being neatly resolved, weighs heavily upon the present. Bold, learned, monumental in its scope and infused with the energy and emotion of its principals, The Shadow and the Flames tells the dramatic account of the contentious process – at once painful and shot through with urgency and consequence – of crafting history in real time.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.