David Fanning’s book is the first full account of Weinberg’s life and works in any language. Drawing on unpublished materials in the family archives and on the personal reminiscences of those close to Weinberg, he tells the story of a composer who devoted his life to music against heavy odds, memorializing those who did not live to share in his problematic freedom.

Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–96) made two narrow escapes from the Nazis: in 1939 from his native Warsaw to Minsk, then in 1941 to Ta...