This book is a grand epic in which Roman Frister reconstructs the real-life story of the Levy family to produce a unique portrait of a Jewish family swept along in the rise and fall of German history. We follow them through the hard times and the happier ones, in business and in their personal lives. As history is interwoven with Frister's interpretation of the Levy family's experiences, this intellectually engaging book--in truth a historical document--reads like an epic novel.