Guns for Judea (Paperback)

Lying about his age and enlisting in the British Army at the young age of fourteen, Neuman joins one of the three all-Jewish brigades in World War I to fight in Egypt and Palestine to help secure a Jewish homeland. Two generations later his grandson, John, unlocks a safe and finds a mysterious letter that begins a journey of discovery about his grandfather that includes the horrors of war, an illicit love affair, and espionage. This novel reveals the little-known history of both boy soldiers and the three segregated Jewish Legions of the Royal Fusiliers known as The Judeans. These young men signed up to fight in the Middle East during World War I under the British promise of winning back Palestine from the Turkish Empire to form what would later become the State of Israel. Based on the True Story of the Youngest Officer in the Jewish Legions of the British Army in Egypt and Palestine during World War I

“A debut novel about a boy’s all-too-quick passage into manhood during World War I. Yanowitz delivers a multilayered narrative about a Jewish Englishman, Neuman Director. His grandson, John, discovers a letter that refers to Neuman’s memoirs, which tell of his experiences during the First World War. As a 14-year-old boy living in the Jewish Quarter of London in 1918, Neuman lies about his age and enlists in the British Army, joined by his best friend, Zachary. Emboldened by the thought of claiming Palestine as a safe harbor for his fellow Jews, Neuman leaves his aggrieved but proud family and joins one of the army’s Jewish brigades, eventually dubbed the Judeans. He enters the war quickly; instead of the usual two weeks of training camp, he has a paltry three days before he sets sail for Egypt, ready to experience combat. Cocksure, athletically nimble and conversant in five languages, Neuman draws his superior officers’ attention, and they choose him for a secret initiative to smuggle British rifles to Jewish Palestinians along the Turkish border. Along the way, he meets Rachel, the beguiling daughter of a prominent Jewish family in Cairo; their romance is complicated by the family’s close friendship with Major Silbur, to whom Neuman serves as a valet. Between 2008 and 2011, Neuman’s grandson, John, devotes himself to tracking down a book that Neuman apparently wrote while he was a soldier. John’s quest leads him to dramatic revelations about his grandfather’s espionage career. Yanowitz delivers an enthralling personal drama nested inside a grand historical narrative… John’s search for his grandfather’s book adds to the drama, deftly contributing factual detail along the way…”