Eastern European Jewry of the 19th century saw a tremendous decrease in the infant mortality rate which resulted in a population explosion, but despite this positive change, the Czar made sure the Jews faced grim times. Not only were Jews restricted from living anywhere but in the Pale of Settlement, Jewish children were conscripted into the Russian army as young as age ten. With stories of how the cantonist thread led to desperate measures, criminal behavior, and resentment against the rabbinate, Rabbi Wein captures the spirit of these harrowing years of Jewish history.