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

This is a sweeping work of storytelling bravado

By Jenni Frazer

1 min read

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

Italians round up a suspected fascist outside a shop they've just bombed, in 1944

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Meet the Cuban-Italian Simone de Beauvoir

By Amanda Hopkinson

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HKWKDM HKWKDM Giovanni Baronzio - The Feast of Herod and the Beheading of the Baptist

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The story of King Herod you’ve probably never heard

By Colin Shindler

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Rabbinical scholars: Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, Louis Jacobs, Joseph Hertz and David Nieto. Far left: Rabbi Dr Zarum’s book

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

By Harry Freedman

2 min read

Books

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

By Claire Allfree

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Back to the wall: Venice Ghetto (Photo: Felix Pope)

Books

Review: Shylock’s Venice – An unimprovable book

By Jenni Frazer

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Anti-Israel

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

By Jane Prinsley

3 min read

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How Jewish refugees changed British childhood

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

By David Herman

2 min read

March 12, 2024 19:15

How Jewish refugees changed British childhood

Final Verdict by Tobias Buck review: ‘Would I have climbed down the watchtower and walked away?’

This is insightful on the guilt, complicity and collaboration of the Third Reich’s fellow German travellers, including the author’s own grandfather

By Colin Shindler

2 min read

March 12, 2024 15:51

Final Verdict by Tobias Buck review: ‘Would I have climbed down the watchtower and walked away?’

A love affair in the shadows of the gas chambers

This book reads like a thriller, and if that encourages people to pick it up, good: 79 years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, living memories are fading

By Jennifer Lipman

2 min read

March 8, 2024 10:55

A love affair in the shadows of the gas chambers

The Fleet Street hack who hobnobbed with Hitler before becoming a spy

The appearance of this book could not be more timely, nor its message more urgent

By Jenni Frazer

3 min read

March 8, 2024 10:47

Inside story: 'Daily Express' journalist Sefton Delmer after the war Credit: Getty

Literary agent claims ‘Half of British publishers will not take books that have any Jewish content’

Writer also told a mention of her book was dropped over the 'hassle' involved in mentioning Jews or Judaism

By Jane Prinsley

1 min read

March 4, 2024 12:42

Writer Gillian Freedman was told by a website that they could not mention her book, Jews Milk Goats, because it was Jewish

How I told my family’s history through the words of early Zionists

Rachel Cockerell’s genre-bending debut book ‘Melting Point’ about the search for a Jewish homeland blends the history of Zionism with her own family story

By Anne Joseph

6 min read

February 28, 2024 17:18

How I told my family’s history through the words of early Zionists

These books about hate are already out of date

David Herman finds much of interest in two timely essay collections about antisemitism — but why is there so little emphasis on Iran or immigration?

By David Herman

4 min read

February 8, 2024 16:20

Protesters hold placards during a demonstration to protest against antisemitism, in central London on November 26, 2023 (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Best-selling author Freya North on the first book inspired by her Jewish family background

The author visited her great-grandparents’ graves to inspire her

By Freya North

5 min read

February 8, 2024 13:06

By Kate Maltby

Alice Walker’s open Jew hate is simply ignored

There is a jarring collective amnesia around the views of the author of The Color Purple

3 min read

January 11, 2024 10:47

The cast of 'The Color Purple' . (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

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books

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

Meet the Cuban-Italian Simone de Beauvoir

The story of King Herod you’ve probably never heard

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

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

Review: Shylock’s Venice – An unimprovable book

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

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How Jewish refugees changed British childhood

Final Verdict by Tobias Buck review: ‘Would I have climbed down the watchtower and walked away?’

A love affair in the shadows of the gas chambers

The Fleet Street hack who hobnobbed with Hitler before becoming a spy

Literary agent claims ‘Half of British publishers will not take books that have any Jewish content’

How I told my family’s history through the words of early Zionists

These books about hate are already out of date

Best-selling author Freya North on the first book inspired by her Jewish family background

Alice Walker’s open Jew hate is simply ignored