2024 in review: Jewish books
From the Shoah to the screwed-up elite, the five stand-out Jewish books of the year are a mix of eviscerating fiction, assiduously researched history and memoir
British-born author wins Sacks book prize
Talmud teacher Gila Fine received the accolade for The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic
Does the world really need another Leonard Cohen biography?
The late, great singer’s life story has been committed to print in some 30 books, and this latest publication is one too many
Why in the Middle East, a cartoon can be worth a thousands words
This visual guide to the Arab-Israeli conflict between 1917 and 1949 is enthralling
Were the Nazis inherently evil?
Do we have free will, or is it all written in the womb? The neurologist-author of new book looks at the science behind our actions
The 2025 Wingate Prize longlist is announced
The shortlist will be announced next month and the winner in February
They Were Good Germans Once review: ‘the trials of the yekke’
This is a welcome memoir on the German Jews who were ashamed of being Jewish
Why Not Let the Leaning Tower Collapse review: ‘big questions on history and morality’
Daniel Snowman is an engaging historian who brings a wide range of subjects to life in this new book of essays
Why the English country house was also often Jewish
The book I have co-edited confronts uncomfortable ideas about Jewish money, power and antisemitism head on
Meet the Holocaust survivor who became a TikTok sensation
Gidon Lev, who has over 500,000 social media followers, spent his early years in a concentration camp but refused to let the experience define him
The enduring appeal of Nora Ephron, and the golden age of rom-coms
A new book about the Jewish writer and director’s filmography brings nostalgia for the era of When Harry Met Sally style rom-coms
The Viennese-born snapper who recorded social injustice in Britain
Edith Tudor Hart was an immensely talented documentary photographer whose work deserves to be better known. This biography-in-the-round will help
The Empusium review: ‘hooch and misogyny at a gentlemen’s guesthouse’
Booker and Nobel Prize-winner Olga Tokarcuk’s latest work falls slightly short of her previous literary achievements
The Thinking Heart review: ‘David Grossman’s dream for Israel omits certain details’
The leading Israeli novelist’s new book fails to ask tough questions about the Jewish state’s implacable enemies
Over 1,000 authors including Sally Rooney sign ‘discriminatory’ boycott letter
UK Lawyers for Israel claimed similar anti-Israel boycotts have faced legal action
By Any Other Name review: ‘Shakespeare’s Marrano sister’
In bestselling Jodi Picoult’s latest book some of the Bard’s most famous works were written by a Jewish woman who observes Friday night and Yom Kippur and sits a version of shiva when her friend dies
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