Cover of Dawn

Dawn

by Elie Wiesel · 1960

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Elisha is a young Jewish man, a Holocaust survivor, and an Israeli freedom fighter in British-controlled Palestine; John Dawson is the captured English officer he will murder at dawn in retribution for the British execution of a fellow freedom fighter. The night-long wait for morning and death provides Dawn, Elie Wiesel's ever more timely novel, with its harrowingly taut, hour-by-hour narrative. Caught between the manifold horrors of the past and the troubling dilemmas of the present, Elisha wrestles with guilt, ghosts, and ultimately God as he waits for the appointed hour and his act of assassination. Dawnis an eloquent meditation on the compromises, justifications, and sacrifices that human beings make when they murder other human beings.

Subject
historyhistoryMore like thisLess of thisbiographybiographyMore like thisLess of thisphilosophyphilosophyMore like thisLess of this
Genre
historical fictionhistorical fictionMore like thisLess of thisHolocaustHolocaustMore like thisLess of thisWorld War IIWorld War IIMore like thisLess of thiswar and militarywar and militaryMore like thisLess of thisliterary fictionliterary fictionMore like thisLess of this
Themes
JewishJewishMore like thisLess of thisreligionreligionMore like thisLess of thismurdermurderMore like thisLess of thissurvivalsurvivalMore like thisLess of this
Setting
HolocaustHolocaustMore like thisLess of thisWorld War IIWorld War IIMore like thisLess of thisPalestinePalestineMore like thisLess of thisMiddle EastMiddle EastMore like thisLess of thisIsraelIsraelMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
short · 81 pages
Form
novellanovellaMore like thisLess of this

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Liked Dawn? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Dawn. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. My Mother's Secret J.L. Witterick · 2013 Shares historical fiction, Holocaust, World War II
  2. Playing For Time Fania Fenelon, Marcelle Routier · 1976 Shares Holocaust, nonfiction, World War II
  3. Schindler's List Thomas Keneally · 1982 Shares Holocaust, historical fiction, classics
  4. The Drowned and the Saved Primo Levi · 1986 Shares Holocaust, nonfiction, World War II
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“People who read Dawn tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Destruction of the European Jews Raul Hilberg · 1961
  2. The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942 Christopher R. Browning · 2003
  3. A History of the Holocaust Yehuda Bauer, Nili Keren · 1982
  4. Into That Darkness: An Examination of Conscience Gitta Sereny · 1974

“If you want more of the same (history about jewish), start with these.”

  1. Day After Night Anita Diamant · 2009
  2. The Sweetness Sande Boritz Berger · 2014
  3. The List Martin Fletcher · 2011
  4. Rosa's Gold Ray Kingfisher · 2014

“If it was the Holocaust that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Wall John Hersey · 1950
  2. The Cage Ruth Minsky Sender · 1986
  3. I Have Lived a Thousand Years Livia E. Bitton-Jackson · 1997
  4. Other People's Houses Lore Segal · 1964

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Block 11 Piero Degli Antoni · 2010
  2. Whatever It Took Henry Langrehr, Jim DeFelice · 2020
  3. In the Shadow of the Banyan Vaddey Ratner · 2012
  4. Evil Men James Dawes · 2013

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