David Rechter is Professor of Modern Jewish History at the University of Oxford and William Golding Senior Research Fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford. He is the author of The Jews of Vienna and the First World War (2001) and Becoming Habsburg: The Jews of Austrian Bukovina 1774-1918 (2013), both published by the Littman Library.

"A fascinating and innovative investigation of the situation of the Jews in the Habsburg monarchy, based on material from archives and libraries in Vienna, Jerusalem, and New York." Antony Polonsky, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University

"The lives of individuals whom Jewish historiography has ignored, like Leon Kellner, teach us much about how Jews experienced larger historical currents. His life reflected two of the most distinctive trends in Habsburg Jewish history: the movement of Galician Jews to the imperial capital, and their upward mobility via education and literature. So despite Kellner's obscurity, his historical trajectory is well known. This biography makes it concrete and specific, and in so doing deepens our understanding of the Habsburg Jewish world." Todd Endelman, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor