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Professor of Apocalypse: The Many Lives of Jacob Taubes Hardcover – May 24, 2022

by Jerry Z. Muller (Author)

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The controversial Jewish thinker whose tortured path led him into the heart of twentieth-century intellectual life

Scion of a distinguished line of Talmudic scholars, Jacob Taubes (1923–1987) was an intellectual impresario whose inner restlessness led him from prewar Vienna to Zurich, Israel, and Cold War Berlin. Regarded by some as a genius, by others as a charlatan, Taubes moved among yeshivas, monasteries, and leading academic institutions on three continents. He wandered between Judaism and Christianity, left and right, piety and transgression. Along the way, he interacted with many of the leading minds of the age, from Leo Strauss and Gershom Scholem to Herbert Marcuse, Susan Sontag, and Carl Schmitt. Professor of Apocalypse is the definitive biography of this enigmatic figure and a vibrant mosaic of twentieth-century intellectual life.

Jerry Muller shows how Taubes’s personal tensions mirrored broader conflicts between religious belief and scholarship, allegiance to Jewish origins and the urge to escape them, tradition and radicalism, and religion and politics. He traces Taubes’s emergence as a prominent interpreter of the Apostle Paul, influencing generations of scholars, and how his journey led him from crisis theology to the Frankfurt School, and from a radical Hasidic sect in Jerusalem to the center of academic debates over Gnosticism, secularization, and the revolutionary potential of apocalypticism.

Professor of Apocalypse offers an unforgettable account of an electrifying world of ideas, focused on a charismatic personality who thrived on controversy and conflict.

Print length

656 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Princeton University Press
Publication date

May 24, 2022
Dimensions

6.5 x 2 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0691170592
ISBN-13

978-0691170596
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, Biography Category"

"[A] fascinating, judicious biography. Professor of Apocalypse is at once a history of ideas, a gripping psychological melodrama and a study of the surprising power of intellectual charisma to make and unmake lives."---Mark Lilla, New York Times Book Review

"This comprehensive biography is an important one. . . . [Muller’s] cogently documented biography, empathic in its presentation and judgment, goes a long way in helping us put mortal flesh on the charismatic puzzle that was Jacob Taubes."---Steven E. Aschheim, Los Angeles Review of Books

"In Professor of Apocalypse Jerry Z. Muller accomplishes the nigh-impossible task of contextualizing the manifold reminiscences and myths surrounding Taubes into a clearly periodized and expertly documented account."---Eugene R. Sheppard, Times Literary Supplement

"Muller has written more than a biography of a talented and tormented Jew and professor of philosophy and religion. Through painstaking reconstruction of the myriad communities of scholars in which Taubes operated and the various worlds of ideas in which he revolved, Muller illuminates hitherto unconnected but fascinating chapters in European, American, and Israeli intellectual life."---Peter Berkowitz, Commentary

"A well-crafted, exhaustively researched, intellectually balanced biography."---Abigail Rosenthal, VoegelinView

"[Professor of Apocalypse] captures the complex personality of an exceptionally difficult man, and the complexity of the age he lived through. . . . Biographers often grow to despise their subjects. Not without cause, Muller at some points is clearly exasperated. But it speaks to his talent and patience that by the end of his book his readers cannot help but love Taubes, for all of his sins."---Daniel Miller, Mars Review of Books

Review

“Muller has written a fascinating biography of one of the most outrageous figures in modern Jewish intellectual life. Both a history of twentieth-century thought and a psychological case study of a disturbed mind and tormented soul, Professor of Apocalypse reads like a novel, a tragicomedy, and a spiritual pilgrim’s tale.”—Vivian Liska, author of German-Jewish Thought and Its Afterlife

“An exquisite and fascinating portrayal. More than the intriguing odyssey of an individual, Muller’s brilliant biography offers a magnificent story of an age saturated with intense anti-liberal trends of both the left and right and their failed quasi-religious redemptive quests.”—Moshe Halbertal, author of Maimonides: Life and Thought

“Jacob Taubes was one of the most transgressive personalities of the twentieth century. He prayed in Satmar synagogues and served pork to his Jewish guests. He carried out his multiple affairs in public and displayed them with pride. Jerry Muller tells Taubes’s story with enormous skill and empathy, rendering a vivid portrait of this complicated, conflicted, and contradictory figure. Taubes comes to life on these pages.”—John G. Gager, Princeton University

“By reconstructing the life of an astonishing intellectual who went so many places and knew nearly everyone, Jerry Muller has reanimated twentieth-century intellectual life from a new perspective. The results are captivating and delightful.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press (May 24, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691170592
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691170596
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.55 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 2 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #875 in Philosopher Biographies
- #2,320 in Religious Philosophy (Books)
- #2,835 in German History (Books)

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Jerry Z. Muller

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Jerry Z. Muller’s books, articles, and lecture courses are on the border between history, social science, philosophy, and public policy.

His most recent book, PROFESSOR OF APOCALYPSE: THE MANY LIVES OF JACOB TAUBES, was published by Princeton University Press in May, 2022.

His previous book, THE TYRANNY OF METRICS, was published by Princeton University Press in 2018 and has been translated into ten languages.

He is the author of five previous books, all available from Amazon.

His lecture series, “THINKING ABOUT CAPITALISM,” is available from The Great Courses.

An emeritus professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. he writes and lectures about a variety of historical and contemporary subjects, including capitalism; nationalism; conservatism; the history of social, political, economic, and religious thought; and modern German and Jewish history.

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Ben Rothke

Fascinating biography

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2022

I had never heard of Taubes until I read Professor of Apocalypse: The Many Lives of Jacob Taubes (Princeton University Press) by Dr. Jerry Z. Muller, Professor Emeritus of history at The Catholic University of America.

Born into a Swiss Orthodox rabbinic family whose father was the chief rabbi of Zurich, with an intellectual capacity to match, Taubes was destined for greatness. However, by the time of his death in 1987, he had married a non-Jewish woman, drove two women to suicide, created countless conflicts, and would have fallen into obscurity, save for some dedicated students who ensured his writing continued into perpetuity.

A man who lived on the edge, his interests were those who were also on edge. From Paul to Sabbtai Zvi, Taubes lived in two worlds. He was a confidant of Rav Yoel of Satmar, ate at the table of Rabbi Dr. Saul Lieberman, frequented the tishes at Toldos Aron in Jerusalem, yet stuffed his face like a glutton at public events with non-kosher food, much to the chagrin of his colleagues.

Taubes seemed to revile in alienating people. He was mentored by Gershon Scholem, who got him a position at Hebrew University. However, he later alienated Scholem due to Taubes's treachery with another one of Scholem's students.

Taubes reminded me of Bar Kokhba, a man with massive potential, yet saw it all come crashing down. Taubes was as revolting as was brilliant. Muller's book is a fascinating insight into a man who reached the highest of intellectual levels, yet occupied himself with pride at the lowest levels of depravity.

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Sunny

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Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2022

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My interest is in Susan Taubes, Jacob's wife. Her private letters to Jacob and some of his back, are what informed me about him before this Massive work. My first impression is with the lack of photos. That sounds superficial, but come on. Nothing with him and Susan? Nothing. OK, so as I sometimes do - I just pick a page and dive in. The one I chose was about Jacob's relationship with Professor Scholem; and his explanation to Jacob that his behavior was so abhorent that he was terminating their relationship. Jacob apparently was playing games with his frieds the Weiss'. Apparently Jacob made the moves on Miriam, the wife, and they had an affair wunder the nose of the husband - or with his knowledge? Anyway, apparently Miriam later commits suicide, and Susan Taubes would do the same thing later. After Jacob took Susan Sontag to bed, while both he and Susan were working in the same department. This man was a P.O.S. - So I am not down at all with this man's character. His intellect may be one thing, but then just read his book 'Occidental Eschatology'. That way you don't need to know all these sort of objectionable moral actions and their consequence - and there were fatal consequences.

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