THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE 2010 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD264 wood & ivory carvings none of them bigger than a matchbox Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in his great uncle Iggie&s Tokyo apartment When he later inherited the &netsuke& they unlocked a story far larger & more dramatic than he could ever have imagined From a burgeoning empire in Odessa to fin de siecle Paris from occupied Vienna to Tokyo Edmund de Waal traces the netsuke&s journey through generations of his remarkable family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century& You have in your hands a masterpiece& Frances Wilson Sunday Times & The most brilliant book I&ve read for years A rich tale of the pleasure & pains of what it is to be human& Bettany Hughes Daily Telegraph Books of the Year&A complex & beautiful book& Diana Athill