The Jew Accused: Three Anti-Semitic Affairs (Dreyfus, Beilis, Frank) 1894-1915 [Paperback]

Albert S. Lindemann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521447615 | ISBN-13: 978-0521447614 | Publication Date: October 30, 1992 | Edition: 1St Edition

Three Jews--Alfred Dreyfus, Mendel Beilis, and Leo Frank--were charged with heinous crimes in the generation before World War I--Dreyfus of treason in France, Beilis of ritual murder in Russia, and Frank of the murder of a young girl in the United States. The affairs that developed out of their trials pulled hundreds of thousands of people into passionate confrontation. Quite aside from the lurid details and sensational charges, larger issues emerged, among them the power of modern anti-Semitism, the sometimes tragic conflict between the freedom of the press and the protection of individual rights, the unpredictable reactions of individuals when subjected to extreme situations, and the inevitable ambiguities of campaigns for truth and justice when political advantage is to be gained from them. This study explores the nature of modern anti-Semitism and the ways that politicians in the generation before World War I attempted to use hatred of Jews as a political device to mobilize the masses. The anti-Semitism surrounding the affairs is presented as an elusive intermingling of real conflict between Jews and non-Jews, on the one hand, and, on the other, fantasies about Jews derived from powerful myths deeply rooted in Western civilization. In attempting to untangle myth and reality and to offer a fresh look at the main personalities in the affairs many surprises emerge; heroes appear less heroic and villains less villainous, while real factors appear more important than most accounts of the affairs have recognized.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Lindemann (history, Univ. of California-Santa Barbara) examines anti-Semitism in pre-World War I Europe and America by profiling three famous cases: the well-known Dreyfus treason affair in France, the Beilis ritual murder episode in Russia, and the Leo Frank murder case in America. All three men were unjustly accused, and anti-Semitism played a decisive role. Lindemann tries to show through a multicultural approach the common forces at work. He does not try to unearth any new primary material as such--he relies heavily on secondary sources. But he does find a way through the clouds of myth that have obscured all three cases. He is especially good at showing the mixed motives of both the accusers and the defenders. He also deftly portrays the historical background and ideological forces. This account is well written and detailed. Recommended for libraries with strong modern history or Judaica holdings. Jewish Book Club alternate.
- Paul Kaplan, Dakota Cty. Lib., Eagan, Minn.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"What emerges from The Jew Accused is a valuable examination of the interaction between Jews and gentiles in different nations. Lindemann's observations and learned conclusions on such a critical theme as anti-Semitism merit our careful reactions." The Virginian-Pilot and the Ledger-Star

"...a perceptive reappraisal of complex events." Times Higher Education Supplement

"...this is a well-written and thought-provoking book that will stimulate and challenge...." Choice

"Throughout the book, Mr. Lindemann, making use of contemporary documents, provides a vivid sense of people and of the period." The New Yorker

"He [Lindemann] is especially good at showing the mixed motives of both the accusers and the defenders. He also deftly portrays the historical background and ideological forces. This account is well-written and detailed." Library Journal

"This work is based on wide reading in very different literatures. Professor Lindemann manages to bring a fresh approach to a much studied subject. It is a fascinating book to read." Peter Kenez, University of California, Santa Cruz

"In this first comparative study of the three harrowing affairs, Lindemann draws valuable insights and some provocative conclusions." Carole Fink, Ohio State University

"Albert Lindemann's impressive and well-written study of the Dreyfus, Beilis, and Frank affairs explores the social and political constructions of anti-Semitism within an unusally rich comparative framework. Challenging a range of traditional perspectives, from purported tolerance of the Dreyfusards to the 'exceptionalism' of the Jewish question in America, Lindemann shows neatly the relationship between the development of anti-Semitic attitudes and movements and the expanding Jewish role in Europe and the United States. His book is bound to stir debate, but few will fail to appreciate the intelligence and sensitivity with which he frames the many contentious issues associated with these famous anti-Semitic affairs, or the care with which Lindemann draws his interesting conclusions." William G. Rosenberg, University of Michigan

"Lindemann devotes about a quarter of his book to Dreyfus. His analysis of the development of anti-Semitism in France in the 25 years before Dreyfus was charged with treason is especially good." Washington Jewish Week

"The Jew Accused deserves a wide readership. It is accessible to a general audience and the university classroom alike." Stephen Pattee, PhD, Bridges

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1St Edition edition (October 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521447615
• ISBN-13: 978-0521447614
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,652,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete, selective history from a biased author, October 25, 2005

By 

Robert W. Gern (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Jew Accused: Three Anti-Semitic Affairs (Dreyfus, Beilis, Frank) 1894-1915 (Paperback)

The author credits himself with writing a type of history which is complete and fully in the context of broader events. But somehow he manages to miss some of the larger ramifications of the very events he is describing in this book. He seems to be attempting to minimize the impact that these three infamous trials had on Jewish and wider history before and after the turn of the last century.

Most historians realize that the Dreyfus Affair had such profound effect on European Jewry that it served as an impetus for the ongoing Zionist migration to Palestine at the time. Theodore Herzl was a journalist at the time who was so profoundly affected by what he saw in France during the Dreyfus Affair that he founded the first Zionist congress in 1897 in Basle, Switzerland as a direct result. This, of course, has had significant impact on world history. But Lindemann pretends that life simply went on its merry way for Jews in Europe afterwards.

And in the United States, Lindemann has a similar blind spot regarding the historic significance of the lynching of Leo Frank. After bending over backwards to suggest that the prosecutor, the press, and even the enraged mobs were not driven by anti-Semitism in this case, he tops it off by missing the largest single lesson of the entire ugly affair. In the immediate aftermath of the brutal lynching of Leo Frank, the Ku Klux Klan was revived and vastly outgrew its former incarnation. Many well-known leading citizens of Georgia (including then current, former and future members of the Georgia House of Representatives) formed what they called the Knights of Mary Phagan (named after the girl who's murder was falsely attributed to Leo Frank). The lynching party grew from this group, many of whom gathered at night several weeks later on top of Stone Mountain (east of Atlanta) to burn a huge cross and form the KKK. But none of this is mentioned by Lindemann, the 'historian'.

Lindemann (a.k.a., Al Shirk) also wrote a book with the provocative title of "Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews" (1997). Robert Wistrich, one of the world's leading authorities on the history of anti-Semitism, characterized it as a "deeply pernicious book"..."which is marked not only by sympathy for the arguments of anti-Semites but by an undisguised antipathy toward Judaism and Jews."

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Look elsewhere, May 24, 2009

By 

Andrew Joseph Pegoda (Houston area, Texas, United States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Jew Accused: Three Anti-Semitic Affairs (Dreyfus, Beilis, Frank) 1894-1915 (Paperback)

I wrote an extended essay called "The Ever Approaching Thunder" on this book and on The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town.

Simply, The Jew Accused is an anti-Semitic account of anti-Semitic events.

Here is an excerpt from my paper:

That Lindemann provides Jewish people with agency and that he does not focus on them as purely victims is, of course, important and accurate. Likewise, trying to find other factors that contributed to Dreyfus's, Beilis's, or Frank's arrest and the resulting responses is vital to truly understand the event. Overall, however, Lindemann is not successful with his thesis. He does not use primary sources, and he does not use footnotes nearly enough, especially for a revisionist interpretation. Worse, he is insensitive, contradictory, perhaps somewhat anti-Semitic, and in places, an apologist for people who fostered and acted with hatred toward Jews. Ultimately, his book leaves readers with countless questions and many potentially destructive bits of random information. For example, "Sigmund Freud saw only one use to have anything to do with Americans: to get their money, for they were `useful for nothing else'."

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars history as it should be written, June 21, 2004

By 

Alan Turing "transient" (Fair Lawn, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jew Accused: Three Anti-Semitic Affairs (Dreyfus, Beilis, Frank) 1894-1915 (Paperback)

In his other book, "Esau's Tears", Lindemann says: "History should not be written in the same way that cases are presented to a jury". He follows this exactly in "The Jew Accused".

The book is very clearly written, very balanced, providing a comprehensive background for each of these three famous (and not so famous, as is the case of Frank) trials.

Albert Lindemann's style is superb, his thinking is clear, he provides lots of relevant (and frequently surprising) details. This book is a pleasure to read, even though the subject matter is very disturbing and controvercial.