Patron: A Life of Salman Schocken, 1877-1959, The

By David, Anthony
Owl Books, 2004, Paperback, 472 pp., ISBN: 0805076891, $18.00

In a sweeping, colorful saga, historian Anthony David tells the fascinating story of Salman Shocken, Jewish philanthropic titan and founder of a large department-store chain.

The name Schocken - now primarily associated with the prestigious publishing house - was once emblazoned over a vast commercial empire; across Europe, it stood for quality consumer goods and uplifting culture made available for all.

The Patron follows Schocken's transformation from an impoverished migrant salesman to a captain of German industry. Once he became a merchandizing millionaire, Shocken harnessed his fortune to a vision: to disseminate Jewish secular culture to the masses through publishing houses, newspapers, and support of such influential modern thinkers such as Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem. But as the Nazi regime closed in on Schocken's enterprise, the resilient tycoon transferred his energies to Palestine and New York.

The Patron fills in a missing piece of twentieth-century history: the life of a self-made man who, with courage and tenacity, helped fashion a people's national and cultural renaissance.