David Herman

David Herman is the JC’s chief fiction reviewer

Latest from David Herman

The highly cultured German Jews who built Britain’s art world

John Hilary’s compelling book tells the story of the Jewish art collectors who arrived in Britain during the 19th century and who established themselves by their philanthropic dealings

2 min read

Superb research: John Hilary and his new book

Fall, Bomb, Fall review: ‘haunting on the Dutch experience of war’

1 min read

The father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud has left his mark on modern love. (Photo: Wikimedia/ Chatto & Windus)

Love’s Labour review: How psychoanalysis can help and hinder us in understanding our messy love lives

2 min read

Woody Allen’s first novel has been worth the wait

2 min read

Happy New Years review: ‘another fine novel by one of Israel’s best writers’

The Hebrew teacher in Maya Arad’s latest novel is a heroine for our times

1 min read

September 12, 2025 16:41

Happy New Years review: ‘another fine novel by one of Israel’s best writers’

The Rest of Our Lives review: ‘It’s not clear why this novel should matter to anyone’

British-American writer Ben Markovits’s new Booker-longlisted novel leaves this reviewer cold

2 min read

September 5, 2025 17:23

The Rest of Our Lives review: ‘It’s not clear why this novel should matter to anyone’

My Name is Stramer review: ‘One of the great east European novels of our time’

Mikołaj ŁoziNski’s fifth novel is a masterpiece of foreshadowing and, surely, a future Pushkin Press classic

2 min read

August 21, 2025 14:42

The author Mikołaj Łozinski and his latest book

Autocorrect by Etgar Keret review: ‘thirty-three troubling short stories’

The Israeli writer’s latest short story collection features dating, sex, relationships – and deep wells of loneliness in contemporary Israel

1 min read

July 18, 2025 16:20

Prolific: Etgar Keret, who has published numerous short story collections, and written widely for TV and film, and his latest book

Ralph Blumenau, history teacher dies aged 100

Refugee who became a ‘brilliant and inspiring’ history teacher at Malvern College

4 min read

July 17, 2025 16:07

Ralph Blumenau, history teacher dies aged 100

The Propagandist review: ‘a devastating account of Vichy France’

Historian Cécile Desprairies’ debut novel is a dark and powerful account of the French men and women who eagerly embraced evil

2 min read

June 27, 2025 13:05

The Propagandist review: ‘a devastating account of Vichy France’

Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and its Maker, review: ‘a Bloomsday treat’

This is a fascinating tribute to Richard Ellmann, the son of Jewish immigrants from Romania and Ukraine, and James Joyce’s greatest biographer

1 min read

June 13, 2025 15:48

Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and its Maker, review: ‘a Bloomsday treat’

The Jewish Pedlar review: ‘Anglo-Jewry’s only mass murderer’

This is a fascinating account of a terrible murder by a Jewish pedlar in eighteenth century England and an excellent example of historian Tony Kushner’s important work documenting the life and culture of Jews in Britain

2 min read

June 8, 2025 19:38

The Jewish Pedlar review: ‘Anglo-Jewry’s only mass murderer’

Leading Jewish historian Anson Rabinbach dies at 79

Rabinbach was best known for his writing on Marxism and Nazi Germany

3 min read

May 15, 2025 13:40

Leading Jewish historian Anson Rabinbach dies at 79

The Assault review: ‘return of a classic war novel’

First published in 1982, this book about the choices of ordinary people in war sold more than 200,000 copies and inspired an Oscar-winning film. Now it has been republished with a new introduction

2 min read

May 2, 2025 15:23