Cafe nostalgia: the coffeehouses that tell Europe’s story

A Jewish man set up the first cafe in England – and in Europe coffee houses were central to Jewish culture, as Monica Porter’s new book details

Literary sorcerer focused on the instability of life

Our writer pays tribute to Paul Auster who died this week

Ancient barbecues and other tasty morsels of archaeology

This brief and breezy guide to Israel’s ancient sites is an impressive achievement

Society of Authors rejects ‘one-sided’ Gaza motion

Jewish writers relieved as union votes against ‘divisive’ anti-Israel motion

Chaim Wiezmann: ‘I am now convinced that without him there would be no state of Israel’

The brilliant chemist used acetone to advance Zionism in the same way Herzl used journalism, says the co-author of a magisterial new biography of the leader

Our Palestine Question, review: An ode to Jews who uttered difficult words in dark times

Knife by Salman Rushdie, review: What about the other victims of the new fundamentalism?

This book is a deeply moving account of a devastating attack and its consequences, but it is also guilty of sins of omission

Society of Authors ‘hijacked by extremists’ after Gaza motion omits Hamas

Jewish writers voiced fears that if the motion passes, the next stop may be boycott of ‘Zionists’ themselves

The Curse of Pietro Houdini, review: Riveting wartime art-heist tale plus philosophy

This is a sweeping work of storytelling bravado

Meet the Cuban-Italian Simone de Beauvoir

Our critic relishes a novel about a formidable feminist

The story of King Herod you’ve probably never heard

A new book sets history straight about a controversial figure

Questioning Belief, by Raphael Zarum – review: An essential resource that helps integrate Judaism with modernity

A consummate communicator, Zarum tackles medieval thinkers with a light touch

Wingate winner Elizabeth McCracken: ‘My fear is being boring in the service of accuracy’

Elizabeth McCracken on the restlessly shape-shifting novel that won her the literary award for the best book to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader

Review: Shylock’s Venice – An unimprovable book

A rigorous trawl through Venetian archives yields a work that begs for a lavish film adaptation

Fury over ‘sickening’ LRB article saying Israel leverages Shoah to ‘slaughter children’

Front-page piece draws derision and outrage from Jewish figures

How Jewish refugees changed British childhood

This is an extraordinary collection of essays about some extraordinary emigré artists and writers