Andre Schiffrin was born the son of one of France's most esteemed publishers, in a world peopled by some of the day's leading writers and intellectuals, such as Andre Gide and Jean-Paul Sartre. But this world was torn apart when the Nazis marched into Paris on young Andre's fifth birthday. Beginning with the family's dramatic escape to Casablanca - thanks to the help of the legendary Varian Fry - and eventually New York, A Political Education recounts the surprising twists and turns of a life that saw Schiffrin become one of the world's most respected publishers.