Listen free for 30 days

  • World of Our Fathers

  • The Journey of the East European Jews to America and the Life They Found and Made
  • Written by: Irving Howe
  • Narrated by: David Colacci
  • Length: 35 hrs and 56 mins

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
World of Our Fathers cover art

World of Our Fathers

Written by: Irving Howe
Narrated by: David Colacci
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $39.46

Buy Now for $39.46

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, two million Jewish immigrants poured into America, leaving places like Warsaw or the Russian shtetls to pass through Ellis Island and start over in the New World. This is a "brilliant" account of their stories (The New York Times).  

Though some moved on to Philadelphia, Chicago, and other points west, many of these new citizens settled in New York City, especially in Manhattan's teeming tenements. Like others before and after, they struggled to hold on to the culture and community they brought from their homelands, all the while striving to escape oppression and find opportunity. They faced poverty and crime, but also experienced the excitement of freedom and previously unimaginable possibilities. Over the course of decades, from the 1880s to the 1920s, they were assimilated into the great melting pot as the Yiddish language slowly gave way to English; work was found in sweatshops; children were sent to both religious and secular schools; and, for the lucky ones, the American dream was attained - if not in the first generation, then by the second or third. 

Nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award, World of Our Fathers explores the many aspects of this time and place in history, from the political to the cultural.

©1976 Irving Howe (P)2020 Tantor

What listeners say about World of Our Fathers

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.