Donato Manduzio's Diary, from Church to Synagogue

This book translates the full text of Manduzio’s Diary from the original Italian into English, making it available at last to a wider public. After providing a social and historical framework for the trajectory of this remarkable man, it retraces Manduzio’s mystical visions and spiritual development, as well as his struggle to create and maintain a Jewish community in a remote corner of Apulia at a time when Fascism was taking hold of Italy. It also shows how the text fits in the context of religious conversion narratives and of literary studies, thus shedding a fresh and fascinating light on the subject.

This book will be of interest to specialists of autobiography, Jewish studies, Italian studies, and cultural studies. The Diary’s literary qualities and riveting story-telling will also make it a must-read for general audiences.