From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History Paperback – Import, 28 February 2023

Nancy Sinkhoff's biography of Lucy Dawidowicz makes visceral all the fears, uncertainty and pride of being Jewish in the 20th century. Born in New York to immigrant, working class parents, Dawidowicz excelled academically and won a scholarship to study Yiddish and Jewish culture at Yivo, in Vilna, Poland. She returned to the US at the outbreak of WW II. Most of her Yivo professors and friends were murdered during the war. Traumatized, Dawidowicz dedicated her career to searching for the remnants of European Jewish intellectual life, revealing its richness and complexity, and making it accessible to English speakers. She wrote "Hitler's War Against the Jews", the first English history of the Holocaust and defended her thesis against the ideas of Raul Hilberg and Hannah Arendt. Her perspective was that of the Jewish victims and she argued passionately in their defense. The annihilation of European Jewry always framed her analysis of contemporary politics, including evolving Jewish relations with African Americans, or the rise of anti-Zionism at the United Nations. A clear thinker, a very precise writer, she commanded the respect of New York public intellectuals, and informed their intellectual transition from liberals to neoconservatives. Nancy Sinkhoff's immensely readable book offers readers a fascinating view of the evolution of Jewish intellectual and political attitudes in 20th century America.

Yes, this book is well researched, and a portrait of 20th century Jewish intellectual history. But Lucy Dherself is nowhere to be found. We learn what she wrote about, what positions she took on which issues, etc etc. But nothing about her personal evolution across the political spectrum.

Not what I was expecting. Not very interesting. Not easy reading