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The Voices of Masada
In the year AD 70, at the close of a long and bloody battle that ended with the Roman conquest of Jerusalem, one thousand Jewish men, women and children stood atop a small mountain located near the Dead Sea in what is now known as Israel.
These brave Jews, known as Zealots because of their zeal for God, chose, when all was lost, to take a stand for freedom and to sacrifice their very lives rather than submit to Roman slavery. They were thus besieged by a Roman force nearly ten times their number, and the historian Josephus tells us that only two women and five children survived the resultant tragedy that is known as Masada.
These brave Jews, known as Zealots because of their zeal for God, chose, when all was lost, to take a stand for freedom and to sacrifice their very lives rather than submit to Roman slavery. They were thus besieged by a Roman force nearly ten times their number, and the historian Josephus tells us that only two women and five children survived the resultant tragedy that is known as Masada.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
237 pages, Hardcover
First published March 8, 1973
About the author
David Kossoff
26 books5 followersKossoff was born in London, the youngest of three children, to poor Russian Jewish immigrant parents. In its obituary of David Kossoff, The Scotsman wrote how he was "a man of deep convictions and proud of his Jewish origins".
Kossoff started working in light entertainment on British television in the years following World War II. His best known television roles were the hen-pecked husband Alf Larkin in The Larkins, first broadcast in 1958, and a Jewish furniture maker in A Little Big Business.
He was also well known for his story-telling skills, particularly with regard to reinterpreting the Bible. His best known book, also a television series, is The Book of Witnesses (1971), in which he turned the Gospels into a series of monologues. He also retold dozens of Old Testament and Apocrypha stories in Bible Stories (1968).
Following the death in 1976 of his son Paul, guitarist with the band Free, Kossoff established the Paul Kossoff Foundation which aimed to present the realities of drug addiction to children. Kossoff spent the remainder of his life campaigning against drugs. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he toured with a one-man stage performance about the death of his son and its effect on the family.
He died in 2005 of liver cancer at age 85. He was cremated and interred at the Golders Green Crematorium.
Obituaries:
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obi...
http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/kos...
Kossoff started working in light entertainment on British television in the years following World War II. His best known television roles were the hen-pecked husband Alf Larkin in The Larkins, first broadcast in 1958, and a Jewish furniture maker in A Little Big Business.
He was also well known for his story-telling skills, particularly with regard to reinterpreting the Bible. His best known book, also a television series, is The Book of Witnesses (1971), in which he turned the Gospels into a series of monologues. He also retold dozens of Old Testament and Apocrypha stories in Bible Stories (1968).
Following the death in 1976 of his son Paul, guitarist with the band Free, Kossoff established the Paul Kossoff Foundation which aimed to present the realities of drug addiction to children. Kossoff spent the remainder of his life campaigning against drugs. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he toured with a one-man stage performance about the death of his son and its effect on the family.
He died in 2005 of liver cancer at age 85. He was cremated and interred at the Golders Green Crematorium.
Obituaries:
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obi...
http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/kos...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 16, 2020
David Kossoff was an actor, who became a best selling author. He was asked to write a Bible story in 1963 by the BBC. Choosing Jonah as his character, he went on to do his own radio and tv show with his stories much to great success.
Kossoff's book on Masada is immersed not only in the history, but tells a great story both the Roman and Zealot side. Some authors are timeless, and I highly recommend a look back to Kossoff's stories.
Kossoff's book on Masada is immersed not only in the history, but tells a great story both the Roman and Zealot side. Some authors are timeless, and I highly recommend a look back to Kossoff's stories.
February 3, 2018
This is my favourite retelling of the famous tragic story of the siege of Masada described so eloquently by David Kossoff using the voices of many of the brave women. Without a hope of escape from their enemies, there is a mutual agreement by all of the Jews entrapped there to commit mass suicide. They do this with calmness and dignity rather than surrender. Well worth a read.
August 16, 2017
After the besieged Jews at Masada commit mass suicide, rather than submit themselves to the mercies of the occupying Roman forces, 2 women and 5 children are the only survivors.
One of them, a young woman, Ruth, sets out to trace the events of Masada, and the vents leading up tp the heroic Jewish last stand at Masada against the enemies of Israel.
Her narrative is filled in by many including the older women and veteran of the siege of Jerusalem Sarah, various veteran Zealots and a Romanized Jew, Jesse.
We also learn of the perfidy and treachery of the Jewish-born pro-Roman historian and propagandist Josephus.
This book is a moving and engaging historical novelization of the Roman conquest of the Judea, of the cruelty of the procurators and Roman occupying forces, of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, and the last stand at Masada and tragic mass suicide.
It is an exciting narrative of these events and a glimpse into the soul of Israel.
One of them, a young woman, Ruth, sets out to trace the events of Masada, and the vents leading up tp the heroic Jewish last stand at Masada against the enemies of Israel.
Her narrative is filled in by many including the older women and veteran of the siege of Jerusalem Sarah, various veteran Zealots and a Romanized Jew, Jesse.
We also learn of the perfidy and treachery of the Jewish-born pro-Roman historian and propagandist Josephus.
This book is a moving and engaging historical novelization of the Roman conquest of the Judea, of the cruelty of the procurators and Roman occupying forces, of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, and the last stand at Masada and tragic mass suicide.
It is an exciting narrative of these events and a glimpse into the soul of Israel.
April 29, 2020
A short, easy to read historical drama, and so well written. Grabbed me from beginning to end. A startling story, especially to those of us with 21st-century western sensitivities, of a time rarely paralleled in hardship, and the desperation that drives people to risk their lives for freedom. But were the risks worth it? At least, that was the question left hanging in my mind by the end of the book. The last chapter is a hard read, so poignantly written, about such a terrible circumstance, that I felt like I was there experiencing their emotions and dissonance.
February 27, 2018
The story was interesting, if a little hard to follow at times, due to going back and forth in time. It was rambling, kind of like what I'd expect to see in someone's journal.
September 2, 2018
Views the events leading up to the suicide at Masada through the eyes of one of the survivors. An in-depth study of the consequences of the Jewish/Roman wars of the first century.
January 12, 2011
I bought this while visiting Masada as a teenager. While still a work of fiction, it gave the reader a good idea of what it may have been like to experience it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews