David Herman

David Herman is the JC’s chief fiction reviewer

Latest from David Herman

Books

Office hours in the studio of Paula Rego review: Portrait of the artist and her male muse

A deeply moving memoir by the man who modelled for the Portuguese painter

1 min read

Office hours in the studio of Paula Rego review: Portrait of the artist and her male muse

Polish writer and journalist Kazimierz Moczarski and his book which has just been translated into English by Sean Gasper Bye

Locked up for nine months with a Nazi

2 min read

Wine, women and ignoring the genocide

1 min read

Jacob Bronowski: the polymath poet behind The Ascent of Man

1 min read

Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare review: ‘On loving Shakespeare and hating cancer’

Greg Doran shares writings by his late husband Antony Sher, who died of cancer in 2021, alongside his own musings on grief and his mission to track down Shakespeare’s First Folios

2 min read

June 5, 2026 11:46

Greg Doran's 'Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare'. Bloomsbury.

The centenary of Allen Ginsberg

A reflection on the life of the Jewish poet who formed the core of America’s Beat Generation

2 min read

June 3, 2026 12:15

American beat poet Allen Ginsberg (1926 - 1997) at the Albert Memorial in London. (Photo by M Stroud/Getty Images)

What made Osip Mandelshtam tick?

This book is a fascinating introduction to one of the great modern poets

1 min read

April 17, 2026 13:50

Howard Jacobson’s brilliant new book on the moral insanity unleashed by October 7

Howl is the first major British novel to address why so many in this country have been driven mad with hatred for Israel

2 min read

March 11, 2026 16:33

Howard Jacobson’s brilliant new book on the moral insanity unleashed by October 7

The horror behind Hayim Bialik’s most feted poem

On the Slaughter is considered the Russian-Jewish poet’s masterpiece, as well as his most controversial work

1 min read

February 6, 2026 09:07

The horror behind Hayim Bialik’s most feted poem

David Abulafia, distinguished and pioneering historian and campaigner against anti-Jewish racism, dies at 76

An increasingly outspoken public intellectual, Abulafia became a fearless champion of intellectual and academic freedom

4 min read

January 27, 2026 10:05

David Abulafia was a leading medieval historian of his generation

Berlin Shuffle review: Pimps, prostitutes and peddlers in Weimar Germany

Hopeless cases, lowlifes and down-and-outs, the atmosphere in the extraordinarily talented Ulrich Boschwitz’s first novel feels like something from Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera

2 min read

January 9, 2026 13:58

Berlin Shuffle review: Pimps, prostitutes and peddlers in Weimar Germany

These dark stories that remind us that Stefan Zweig was one of the greatest Jewish writers

Set in different times, from Ancient Rome to 20th century Europe, these stories are a valuable reminder of why he was one of the most famous Jewish writers in the first half of the last century

2 min read

December 31, 2025 12:48

2025 in review: Books

Our critics’ stand-out Jewish books of the year include eviscerating fiction, assiduously researched history, memoirs and reflections on the lives of poets

7 min read

December 24, 2025 12:47

‘He was one of the most remarkable writers who ever lived’

Called a ‘Polish Franz Kafka’ by Bashevis Singer, Bruno Schulz wrote two books of short stories before he shot dead by an SS officer in 1942. Now the Pushkin Press has released a new anthology of his work

2 min read

December 5, 2025 13:33

Virtuoso of Polish fiction: Bruno Schulz and the Pushkin Press edition of some his most famous stories

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

November 28, 2025 16:12

Superb research: John Hilary and his new book

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

Originally published in 1950, and now translated into English by the Pushkin Press, the teenager at the centre of this novel is so bored he wishes for all-out war...

1 min read

October 24, 2025 11:35

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

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David Herman

Latest from David Herman

Office hours in the studio of Paula Rego review: Portrait of the artist and her male muse

Locked up for nine months with a Nazi

Wine, women and ignoring the genocide

Jacob Bronowski: the polymath poet behind The Ascent of Man

More from David Herman

Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare review: ‘On loving Shakespeare and hating cancer’

The centenary of Allen Ginsberg

What made Osip Mandelshtam tick?

Howard Jacobson’s brilliant new book on the moral insanity unleashed by October 7

The horror behind Hayim Bialik’s most feted poem

David Abulafia, distinguished and pioneering historian and campaigner against anti-Jewish racism, dies at 76

Berlin Shuffle review: Pimps, prostitutes and peddlers in Weimar Germany

These dark stories that remind us that Stefan Zweig was one of the greatest Jewish writers

2025 in review: Books

‘He was one of the most remarkable writers who ever lived’

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

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