BooksBerlin Shuffle review: Pimps, prostitutes and peddlers in Weimar GermanyHopeless 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 OperaBy David Herman2 min read
BooksAuslander review: a tale that supports the theory we don’t belong anywhereThe former journalist Michael Moritz’s family memoir of escape and exile is a triumphBy Jenni Frazer2 min read
BooksSensory vignettes from Walter Benjamin’s Berlin childhoodThis short book is an excellent introduction to the eminent philosopher’s formative years through the eyes of his child selfBy Mark Glanville2 min read
BooksThese dark stories that remind us that Stefan Zweig was one of the greatest Jewish writersSet 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 centuryBy David Herman2 min read
Books2025 in review: BooksOur critics’ stand-out Jewish books of the year include eviscerating fiction, assiduously researched history, memoirs and reflections on the lives of poetsBy Robert Low7 min read
Books Goodbye to Berlin – a lost Jewish Germany is brought back to life in an epic sagaDavid Bennun has high praise for The Effingers, a beautifully subtle novel describing Germany’s slide into NazismBy David Bennun5 min read
BooksBest children’s books for ChanukahAngela Kiverstein picks the seasonal stories that capture young imaginationsBy Angela Kiverstein1 min read
John Irving’s latest: ‘an unapologetically Zionist heroine’The author is to be applauded for exploring fundamental questions of Jewish identity in this era of misguided political correctness, but his manuscript needs a brutal editBy Ben Felsenburg3 min read||December 12, 2025 12:30
‘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 workBy David Herman2 min read||December 5, 2025 13:33
How being Jewish shaped the career of a Seventies music superstarThis critical biography of Carole King pays close attention to her Jewishness and how, while lightly worn, it informed her life and workBy David Bennun1 min read||December 4, 2025 17:35
How I managed to write my (very annoying) first novelAfter a lifetime of trying, I have finally found my literary voice – by becoming a JewBy Michael Kretzmer3 min read||November 26, 2025 13:32
The Lobbyist review: A fun yarn of bribery, corruption and bonkfests galoreLionel Zetter’s novel captures the rapacious spirit of Britain’s political centreBy Jennifer Lipman1 min read||November 20, 2025 16:06
What Have I Done? review: A highly entertaining autobiography by the oft-maligned ‘Blackadder’ writerJewish comedian and writer Ben Elton settles old scores in this frank account of his life in showbizBy Jenni Frazer3 min read||November 20, 2025 14:53
The English houses brought to life with Jewish storiesThe art historian Dan Cruikshank tells the story of the English house through eight very different buildings and, in the process, tells the story of the Jews in EnglandBy Jenni Frazer2 min read||November 16, 2025 13:36
From the Einstein of sex to letters by Oliver Sacks: meet the authors on the 2026 Wingate Prize longlistThe shortlist will be announced in mid-December and the winner early next yearBy Siam Goorwich2 min read||November 13, 2025 15:41
‘I won’t be known as the Baroness Lovell Cocks!’The legendary Lady Cocks on her hotly anticipated memoir in which she spills nearly all the beans on a life rich in event and incidentBy Jenni Frazer4 min read||November 2, 2025 11:11
