They were farmers — until the tumultuous events of history caught up with them.

Simon, the eldest of five brothers, tells how Judah molded the people of Judea into an army capable of defeating the mighty Greek Battalions. For three decades, the Maccabees carried on the struggle, which, in terms of resistance and liberation, has almost no parallel in human history. It was the first modern fight for freedom, the first victory for religious freedom, and it laid a pattern for many movements that followed.

My Glorious Brothers, by the master novelist and historian, Howard Fast (Spartacus, Freedom Road, April Morning), is a powerful recreation of the epic events, still celebrated by Jews the world over as the holiday of Hanukkah. Now a new generation of readers, both teenagers and adults, can thrill to the drama of this contemporary classic.