The Diary of Anne Frank: The Revised Critical Edition

Anne Frank's breathtakingly intimate account of the nightmare of Hitler's Final Solution is a modern classic. It has been translated into more than fifty languages, with the first American edition appearing in 1952, and historians and other scholars have searched for more information about the remarkable young woman who endures as a symbol of strength and hope in the face of the unthinkable.<P>"The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition" is the most comprehensive and informative study of the diary and of Anne's life and death ever assembled. Prepared by The Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation, it contains previously published material from the diary that came to light in 1998, and compares the three versions of the diary itself: Anne's original entries; the diary as she edited it in the hiding place of the "Secret Annex"; and the most familiar version, edited by Anne's father and a Dutch publishing house after WWII, which expurgated certain family and sexual references. Every aspect of the diary — including Anne's handwriting and the paper used — is meticulously examined, providing compelling proof and historical affirmation of its poignant testament. Absorbing biographical information on the Frank family enhances Anne's personal perceptions, and a summary of critical events during and after the family's arrest — including how the Nazi authorities learned about the Franks and their secret hiding place — adds a new dimension to this tragic, still resonant story.<P>Illustrated throughout with black — and — white photographs, "The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition" is an invaluable contribution to our awareness of the Holocaust and a stirring tribute to itsauthor's irrepressible spirit.