The Rooster

A wonderful book, albeit on a difficult subject, capturing the essence of wartime revolutionary life while telling the heartbreaking story of life as a political prisoner. This book provides a different perspective on the better known history of the Nazi death camps and is equal parts family story and historical account. Roller gives us a real sense of her father's character, in his own words and through her memories - the book is beautifully narrated in these two voices, combining the author's journey with her translation of her father's autobiography. Wonderfully told, a beautiful and sad story. --Alice Little, Oxford University, Oxford Centre for Life-Writing As the first generation gives way to the second, Sibel Roller's timely, moving and important book is a powerful reminder of one of Europe's worst, and all but forgotten, concentration camps. Combining memoir, testimony and history, she provides a rare insight into the camp, as well as a fitting tribute to those who died and those who survived. --Nick Barlay, author of Scattered Ghosts: One Family's Survival through War, Holocaust and Revolution This is an important addition to the literature of the Second World War and the concentration camp system, shining a light on a crucible of conflict and oppression often denied the coverage it deserves. The author deftly and movingly weaves a narrative that tells not only of her father Dragan's wartime experiences but of his long and extraordinary life, much of it spent working abroad for the UN. It is a tale of discovery and self-discovery. First, as Dragan strives to live a meaningful life at once informed by but never defined by his experiences in the Jasenovac concentration camp. And then as his daughter comes to a new understanding of her father when she discovers a stash of his writings and other documents after his death. A book that has much to teach us but that wears its wisdom lightly, it deserves to be widely read. --Daniel Smith, non-fiction author