Review
“[A] thrilling and tragic history… Mr. Lebrecht is especially good on the ironies and chain-reaction intimacies that make a people and a past.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Chemotherapy, the theory of relativity, great literature, blood transfusions, political theory, even Google are among the accomplishments of Jewish men and women, and they’re all celebrated in this lively, enlightening history.” —Washington Post, “Best Books of December”
“A spirited account that explores how Jews changed the world.” —The Guardian (UK)
“An altogether brilliant and serious but approachable and readable popular history and survey of an extraordinary century of Jewish achievement….[This] book is unfailingly urbane and anecdotal at the same time it is punctilious about the facts. Lebrecht is hearteningly scrupulous about separating legends that cling like barnacles to the drier and more prosaic and inarguable facts of history.” —Buffalo News
“Like Jewish destiny itself, Lebrecht’s analysis is multi-dimensional, complex, and rich in substance.” —The Times of Israel
“Claims to have ‘changed the world’ tend to be exaggerations, but Lebrecht’s subtitle, How Jews Changed the World 1847-1947, seems understated. The world wasn’t changed, it was remade… [Narrated] by a sprightly raconteur, with anecdotes and jokes, digressions and embellishments. Lebrecht piles them high in a ziggurat of enthusiasm for those ‘who changed the way we see the world.’” —The Times (UK)
“An absorbing, well-told story of Jewish achievement that is a pleasure to read…. Written with passion and authority, this book shows how these great minds always took a different point of view—and changed how we see the world.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A unique perspective on the role of Jews in European intellectual life, this will be of interest to music and art history readers, as well at those interested in Jewish history.” —Library Journal
“Invoking heroic, creative, courageous images through the large panorama and the small vignette, Lebrecht… teases out more than 100 years of Jewish lore in this dense, entertaining work.” —Bookreporter.com
“Urgent and moving history.” —The Spectator (UK)
About the Author
Norman Lebrecht is the world’s bestselling author on classical music. His Whitbread Award-winning novel, The Song of Names, is currently being developed into a feature film. Aside from the history of Western music, he has a lifelong passion for the culture and chronicles of the Jewish people and is the author of Genius & Anxiety. He lives in London.
