Cecil Roth, Historian Without Tears: A Memoir [1st Edition]

Some day, Cecil Roth the historian and author will surely be the subject of a scholarly biography. However, these memoirs by his widow Irene introduce us to Cecil Roth the man, the warm human being possessed of a keen sense of humor and a knack for communicating with scholar and layman alike. While most readers know of him only as a man of letters, in this book Professor Roth comes to life as the avid traveller, art lover and connoisseur, and friend to countless young people who retain fond memories of their mentor. Irene Roth draws an intimate portrait of her husband against a backdrop of their life at Oxford, as globetrotting hunters of rare objets d'art and as hosts to and guests of the prominent and not so prominent. On page after page Mrs. Roth reveals an almost total recall as we meet a veritable who’s who of illustrious names from royalty to literati, from statesmen to bankers. All this makes fascinating and entertaining reading, seasoned with numerous anecdotes—some comical, some uncomplimentary—and spiced with a generous helping of gossip. All in all Mrs. Roth writes with a facility and grace worthy of her subject. The book is enhanced by a number of illustrations showing choice items from the famed Roth collection and photographs from the Roth family album.