Shylock's Venice

[Harry Freedman has] a good eye for detail, an easy, fluent style, and the ability to distil complex issues without dumbing down. A darkly fascinating trip into the original Ghetto. * Noel Malcolm, Telegraph * A rigorous trawl through Venetian archives yields a work that begs for a lavish film adaptation. Unimprovable. * Jewish Chronicle * Freedman has written a worthy history. * The Oldie * If Shakespeare had travelled to Venice, he would have experienced the vibrant, bustling, conflicted life of the Ghetto, vividly evoked in Harry Freedman’s gallery of memorable characters. This book shows how Shylock’s real contemporaries, confined within a narrow space, made their voices heard far and wide. * Professor Shaul Bassi, author of The Merchant in Venice: Shakespeare in the Ghetto * Harry Freedman has written an attractive account of the history and culture of the Venetian Ghetto. The book is readable, well-researched, and incorporates the figure of Shylock in new ways. As Freedman adeptly shows, the Venetian Ghetto was an intellectual and creative hothouse – from music and poetry to medicine and Kabbalah – which included many extraordinary individuals such as Leon Modena and Sara Copia Sulam. Shylock’s Venice demonstrates that the ghetto had a reach far beyond the Venetian Empire. * Bryan Cheyette, author of The Ghetto: A Very Short Introduction (2020) *