Norman Mailer, author of such masterpieces as The Naked and the Dead, The Armies of the Night and The Executioner's Song, died in November 2007 at the age of 84, shortly following the publication of his last novel, The Castle in the Forest. By nature, Mailer was larger than life, and his writing will continue both to disturb and to offer emancipation to his readership. Mailer remains one of the most emblematic literary figures of our time, a fact that cannot be dissociated from the quasi-religious mission he had consciously undertaken from the beginning of his career: to become a prophet, a self-appointed messiah, of his times and of his country.In this penetrating new study, Gwendolyn Chabrier begins her exploration of Mailer's life and work from the perspective of the flowering of Jewish literature in the West in the twentieth century. Dr Chabrier then examines Mailer's relationship with, among other major influences in his life, his mother, his wives, the women's rights movement, his university years, politics, the black community, anti-semitism and racism. Based on a number of personal interviews with Mailer, as well as many years' research, this is an essential book for all who wish a deeper understanding of this iconic American author, his life and goals.

Seventy years and at least three generations have passed since the abomination of the Holocaust was inflicted by the Nazis on the Jewish population of eastern Europe. And yet the singular horror and monstrosity of those events does not fade with time, and nor should it ever. As this book goes to press, the headlines of the New York Times announces yet one more of the perpetrators brought to justice (Demjanjuk Convicted for Role in Nazi Death Camp; May 12th, 2011). Behind the Barbed Wire vividly and eloquently records the memories of one who lived through, and miraculously survived, the Nazi atrocities inflicted on Latvian Jews during WWII. This graphic, at times harrowing and always mesmerizing true account should be required reading for all who hold hope that mankind will never again witness such depravity.