The City of 72 Names covers almost one hundred years of world conflict, technological developments, art and cultural fluorescence and sadly, continuing anti-Semitism. We see a lot of this through the eyes of Moishe, Pinchas, Dovid and Leah Levy but without context, it is difficult to understand how strongly Jews impacted the strong desire of people all over the world to live their lives freely. Judaism teaches a concept called tikkun olam or "repairing the world." Our protagonists were not religious Jews. They were children and young adults when thrust into the world outside of their home and had only the rudiments of Jewish education but they instinctively knew from their parents the need to survive and more than that try to make the world a better place. Even Davey Boy, the American mobster, ends up doing good in his own way.
So, what was happening in the world during the lives of the Levy siblings? Turmoil, conflict, ethnic cleansing, nationalism, war, brilliant intellectual developments, unbelievable advancements in living standards, abject poverty, famine, disease, the passing of old regimes and the rising of new ones; and change, constant change.
