Updated review roundup

Praise for Matti Friedman’s The Aleppo Codex

The Aleppo Codex could be read as a thriller. It could also be read as a history of the Jewish people, or as a meditation on history and myth. This great book comes closer to containing everything than any book I’ve read in a long, long time.”—Jonathan Safran Foer

“[Friedman] opened a treasure box of history, mystery, conspiracy, and convolutions that would do any biblical thriller proud . . . Friedman has done a remarkable job—finding sources and digging through archives—of getting the Crown’s fascinating story out of the shadows and into the light. In the process, he’s become the latest in the long line of the Crown’s protectors.”Booklist, starred review

“Friedman gives a masterful account of a major religious document . . . [he] delivers an atmospheric, tense story about the destruction of a sacred relic, raising inevitable questions about who owns a people’s historical treasures.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Sharply etched . . . A carefully paced narrative of purloined Judaica.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Friedman’s account of how the Codex was taken from Syria in the 1940s, later to resurface in Jerusalem, although no longer complete, is full of betrayals, controversy and surprises — and raises larger questions about the ownership and preservation of historical treasures.” — Jewish Week

The Aleppo Codex builds to a moral crescendo more impressive than the climactic fight scene in any thriller.” – Salon

“Thrilling . . . a real-life National Treasure that reads like fantastical fiction.”—CultureMob

“Friedman’s clear writing and dogged pursuit of some otherwise overlooked assumptions read more like a detective novel than history… an important account in accessible, gripping prose.”–Christian Science Monitor

“…[A] thrilling, step-by-step quest to discover what really happened to Judaism’s most important book.”–Boston Globe

“Matti Friedman is a stunningly talented writer, a once-in-a-generation discovery. The Aleppo Codex has enough betrayals, conspiracies, surprise plot twists, sacred flimflam men, and well-dressed contraband dealers for the best of thrillers — but every bit of it is meticulously researched fact. Cancel your appointments, bury your cell phone — you won’t want to be interrupted – and read this book.”—Gershom Gorenberg, Senior Correspondent for The American Prospect and author of The Accidental Empire

“A beautifully woven tale of epic proportions about a sacred book and its all-too-human custodians. I did not put it down until I had finished it at the crack of dawn. Absolutely riveting!”—Oren Harman, author of The Price of Altruism