[Harry Freedman has] a good eye for detail, an easy, fluent style, and the ability to distil complex issues without dumbing down. A darkly fascinating trip into the original Ghetto.

Noel Malcolm, Telegraph

Harry Freedman's new book is fascinating and thorough… A total pleasure. Shylock's Venice is a must-read for anyone who has been to Venice of ever plans to go.

Jewish Book Council in America

Well documented, lucid and readable.

The Tablet

A rigorous trawl through Venetian archives yields a work that begs for a lavish film adaptation. Unimprovable.

Jewish Chronicle

Freedman has written a worthy history.

The Oldie

If Shakespeare had travelled to Venice, he would have experienced the vibrant, bustling, conflicted life of the Ghetto, vividly evoked in Harry Freedman's gallery of memorable characters. This book shows how Shylock's real contemporaries, confined within a narrow space, made their voices heard far and wide.

Professor Shaul Bassi, author of The Merchant in Venice: Shakespeare in the Ghetto