books

‘Judaism and heavy metal teach us how to live – and what it means to die well’

Lecturer Keith Kahn-Harris’s new book ‘The Beautiful Death of Ozzy Osbourne’ celebrates the life and death of the Prince of Darkness, whose music shares profound similarities with Judaism, he argues

By Daniel Ben-David

3 min read

Books

Judy Blume’s story, told lovingly and in exhaustive detail – but without her input

By Jennifer Lipman

2 min read

Books

Secrets and lies: Victoria Redel’s new novel imagines the world of a woman artist in 17th century Amsterdam

By Keren David

5 min read

Books

Stay Alive by Ian Buruma review: ‘a meticulously researched war history’

By Robert Low

3 min read

Books

Something Might Fall review: Portrait of a woman on the edge and a marriage on fire

By Jenni Frazer

2 min read

Words for horror: lyricists Shmerke Kaczerginski (far left) and Abraham Sutzkever (second left) with two other survivors in a portrait taken in Moscow after the war

Books

The songs of anguish they wrote and sang in the Polish ghettos and camps

By Mark Glanville

2 min read

Books

The Inspired review: ‘Reminds us that comfort can always be found in music’

By Ethan Daws

1 min read

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The Melted Pot review: ‘Why has this intolerance been tolerated?’

Harry Saul Markham’s sure-footed exploration of the forces of extremism which threaten Britain, and its Jews in particular, will alarm moderates, but it also offers a way ahead

By Ben Felsenburg

1 min read

April 29, 2026 14:30

Sobering times: the march against antisemitism in November 2023, and (right) Markham's new book

Worlds Apart review: How a terrible childhood can last a lifetime

This is beautifully written and translated autofiction by an author desperate to make sense of her bleak start in life

2 min read

April 29, 2026 10:31

Worlds Apart review: How a terrible childhood can last a lifetime

A medic’s front-line accounts of battlefield salvations

A former British Army officer is moved by a new book on military medicine and the ingenuity and humanity of those who adminster it

By Andrew Fox

1 min read

April 24, 2026 11:30

A medic’s front-line accounts of battlefield salvations

High and Low by Amanda Craig review: ‘A thoroughly moreish state-of-the-nation novel’

If half a century from now you were to be asked what it was like to live in Britain in 2026, this is the book you should hand over in answer

By Ben Felsenburg

2 min read

April 23, 2026 12:29

In this together: Amanda Craig's new novel, and Londoners sitting cheek by jowl share park space with a pigeon

What made Osip Mandelshtam tick?

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

By David Herman

1 min read

April 17, 2026 12:50

Himmler’s Curtains: How my survivor mother ended up living in a Nazi leader’s house

This beautifully written memoir is full of startling vignettes, but using a psuedonym in this age of disinformation and denial feels a disservice to the reader

By Jennifer Lipman

2 min read

April 16, 2026 10:50

Pulling back the curtain: Simon Weisz (a pseudonym) and his mother c.1959

The Jewish Renoir girls who were betrayed by France

Catherine Ostler’s new book explores the fate of the children in the painter’s famous work Pink and Blue, one of whom was murdered at Auschwitz

By Eliana Jordan

3 min read

April 14, 2026 17:01

Alice and Elisabeth in Pierre-Auguste Renoir's portrait 'Pink and Blue'. (Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Acerbic verse from a ‘cantakerous’ Yiddish poet

Anyone with an interest in Yiddish culture, or simply first-class poetry, will relish this excellent selection

By Mark Glanville

2 min read

April 10, 2026 12:39

Acerbic verse from a ‘cantakerous’ Yiddish poet

The Tribe review: ‘a brilliantly told story of a once gilded Sephardi family’

This epic set in Jewish Salonica is full of ideas, marvellously rich in detail and its people feel real

By David Bennun

2 min read

April 7, 2026 15:21

The way we were: Michael Arditti's new saga, and the Kovo family in Salonica, in Greece, which under Ottoman rule was Europe's only Jewish-majority city

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books

‘Judaism and heavy metal teach us how to live – and what it means to die well’

Judy Blume’s story, told lovingly and in exhaustive detail – but without her input

Secrets and lies: Victoria Redel’s new novel imagines the world of a woman artist in 17th century Amsterdam

Stay Alive by Ian Buruma review: ‘a meticulously researched war history’

Something Might Fall review: Portrait of a woman on the edge and a marriage on fire

The songs of anguish they wrote and sang in the Polish ghettos and camps

The Inspired review: ‘Reminds us that comfort can always be found in music’

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More from books

The Melted Pot review: ‘Why has this intolerance been tolerated?’

Worlds Apart review: How a terrible childhood can last a lifetime

A medic’s front-line accounts of battlefield salvations

High and Low by Amanda Craig review: ‘A thoroughly moreish state-of-the-nation novel’

What made Osip Mandelshtam tick?

Himmler’s Curtains: How my survivor mother ended up living in a Nazi leader’s house

The Jewish Renoir girls who were betrayed by France

Acerbic verse from a ‘cantakerous’ Yiddish poet

The Tribe review: ‘a brilliantly told story of a once gilded Sephardi family’