Antisemitism in America
Leonard Dinnerstein
Reviews and Awards
Winner of the Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights
Winner of the 1995 Social and Behavioral Sciences Book Prize by the SBS Research Institute
"Will stand for a long time as the definitive treatment of its topic."--Jack Wertheimer, Commentary
"The most comprehensive and up-to-date history of American anti-Semitism....Concise, highly readable....A major contribution."--Philip Perlmutter, The Boston Globe
"No other historian of the subject has done anything approaching this monumental, narrative synthesis of previous scholarship in many different disciplines, melded with original research in impressive depth. The variety of sources the author draws upon, and the engrossing detail he has extracted from them, continually surprised and impressed me. The treatment of complex events is nicely rounded and generally nuanced....A major work of scholarship."--John Higham, author of Send These to Me: Immigrants in Urban America
"Antisemitism in America would be a valuable addition to most church libraries, because of its factual handling of a persistent tendency toward antisemitism in mainstream Christian culture."--Church and Synagogue Libraries
"Informative."--Perspectives on Political Science
"Dinnerstein has produced a genuinely definitive history and one which is readable and consistently interesting."--Journal of American Ethnic History
"[C]ertainly a richly sourced, incisively written book....It is a remarkable accomplishment, a survey and sensitive analysis wrapped in an accessible package."--KLIATT
"The author shows how war and economic crises have often caused Jews to be cast as scapegoats, while evangelical Christianity has portrated them as enemies."--The New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Paperback, January 14, 1996
"[Dinnerstein] doesn't pull any punches about the forces in and outside churches who keep the theme of Jewish villainy alive....a challenging book that deserves attention."--The New York Times
"As a record of one of the country's dirty secrets, Antisemitism in America has real value."--Chicago Tribune
"No other historian of the subject has done anything approaching this monumental, narrative synthesis of previous scholarship in many different disciplines, melded with original research in impressive depth. The variety of sources the author draws upon, and the engrossing detail he has extracted from them, continually surprised and impressed me. The treatment of complex events is nicely rounded and generally nuanced....A major work of scholarship."--John Higham, author of Send These to Me: Immigrants in Urban America
"Antisemitism in America is a tour de force--comprehensive, thoughtful, and highly readable. Dinnerstein's is a well-documented narrative and cogent analysis of antisemitism in America, from its roots in European Christianity to the present day. Dinnerstein resists the easy temptations prevalent in other studies of antisemitism. Instead, he portrays American antisemitism in its complex and nuanced history in the context of a keen understanding of American democratic pluralism."--Jerome A Chanes, National Affairs Director, National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council
"In an enlightening history of anti-Semitism in the U.S. Dinnerstein argues that deeply ingrained hostility towards Jews embedded in Christian teachings is the mainspring of this prejudice....Offers an illuminating analysis of black anti-Semitism since WW II, tracing its roots in many instances to Protestant theology."--Publishers Weekly
"Dinnerstein presents a landmark history of anti-Semitism in America in a fine, readable manner."--Library Journal