'A truly radical book radical in subject radical in form. For the most tragic reasons it
could not feel more immediate and yet it's a fluid fast-paced hugely enjoyable and engaging
read.' - Andrew Marr ''Unforgettable... Non fiction will be different as a result.' - Jonathan
Freedland 'This is an extraordinarily original way of writing memoir history and truth. An
enthralling book and a wonderful new writer.' - Laura Cumming 'So fascinating so enjoyable
and beautifully told through diaries memoirs speeches and newspapers'. - Simon Sebag
Montefiore 'a remarkable book' - Robert Macfarlane On June 7th 1907 a ship packed with Russian
Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York as many on board have dreamt but to Texas. The
man who persuades the passengers to go is David Jochelmann Rachel Cockerell's
great-grandfather. It marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement a forgotten moment in
history when 10 000 Jews fled to Texas in the lead-up to WWI. The charismatic leader of the
movement is Jochelmann's closest friend Israel Zangwill whose novels have made him famous
across Europe and America. As Eastern Europe becomes infected by anti-Semitic violence
Zangwill embarks on a desperate search across the continents for a temporary homeland: from
Australia to Canada Angola to Antarctica. He reluctantly settles on Galveston Texas. He fears
the Jewish people will be absorbed into the great American melting pot but there is no other
hope. In a highly inventive style Cockerell uses exclusively source material to capture
history as it unfolds weaving together letters diaries memoirs newspaper articles and
interviews into a vivid account of those who were there. Melting Point follows Zangwill and the
Jochelmann family through two world wars to London New York and Jerusalem - as their lives
intertwine with some of the most memorable figures of the twentieth century and each chooses
whether to cling to their history or melt into their new surroundings. It is a story that asks
what it means to belong and what can be salvaged from the past.
