"[A] judicious and well-crafted portrait of this remarkable man."—Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
"Perceptive. . . . Fair-minded throughout. . . . [Wiesel’s] legacy compels us to bear witness in his absence and continue to confront the silence."—Diane Cole, Wall Street Journal
"Stellar. . . . Deeply engrossing and moving, this splendid biography gives us the remarkable man behind the tortured face."—Joseph Barbato, New York Journal of Books
"An indispensable touchstone."—Julia M. Klein, Forward
"Shows Wiesel in all his complexities, as an unaffected, fallible man who kept his faith even while struggling with God. . . . Deeply researched and engrossing."—Maron L. Waxman, Jewish Book Council
"A readable appreciation/biography that has immediacy and emotional valence."—E. R. Baer, Choice
“Berger deals extensively with Wiesel’s attempts to process his traumatic youth, [and] this is where Berger is at his best. He clearly empathizes with Wiesel’s angry, anguished, but ultimately pious efforts to make sense of God’s mysterious acceptance of the mass murder of the Jews.”—American Historical Review
Finalist for the 73rd National Jewish Book Award, Biography category, sponsored by the Jewish Book Council
CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2023
Longlisted for the Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography, sponsored by PEN America
"A necessary and moving biography of a once-in-a-generation historic figure and irreplaceable moral teacher."—Cynthia Ozick, author of Antiquities and Other Stories
"Joseph Berger has performed a small miracle in offering us this moving, meticulously researched, judicious, and learned biography of Elie Wiesel, who willed himself to transcend personal tragedy and bear witness in the hope that humanity might learn from the horrors of the past."—David Nasaw, author of The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War
