Hell on Earth

"This harrowing novel by one of the most unique war novelists in modern Hebrew literature is a chilling account of the horrors of WWI, which proved an all too real rehearsal for the Second World War only a few decades later. Hameiri's horrendous experiences as a war prisoner are recounted with a chilling directness that becomes especially haunting as a prelude to the Holocaust. It is also one of the only literary accounts of Jewish soldiering prior to the establishment of Israel that expresses some of the paradoxes of Jewish existence in the modern era and of Zionism as a radical response to it. A profound and important book."—Yaron Peleg, Kennedy-Leigh Lecturer in Modern Hebrew Studies, University of Cambridge

"An interesting and exciting book. A rare tale of extraordinary and sometimes even unbelievable human suffering. It is an achievement of Appelbaum's to open this valuable document to the public."—Georg Wurzer, Author of the Prisoners of War of the Central Powers in Russia During Wwi

"For eighty-five years, one of the major novels to come out of World War I has been waiting for an English translation like Peter Appelbaum's. It is not a book for the faint of heart. The strong-minded will appreciate its unflinching humanity."—Hillel Halkin, Author of Jabotinsky: a Life

"There were eight million prisoners of war in the 1914-18 conflict. Here is one soldier's tale relating stories of Jewish men among them, trapped in lice and typhoid infested camps in Russia. Hameiri's voice is a Cri de Coeur against the stupidities and cruelties of war; an All Quiet on the Eastern Front for our times."—Jay Winter, Professor of History at Yale University and Author of War Beyond Words: Languages of Remembrance from the Great War to the Present

"Appearing for the first time in English, Hell on Earth adds an important and little known element to the First World War literary canon. With an introduction by Avner Holzman, this translation from Hebrew brilliantly captures Hameiri's unique mixture of brutal realism, cultural and political comment, and even some gallows humor."—Glenda Abramson, Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University of Oxford