Book: Jews and the Civil War

The New York Jewish Week book column spotlighted a book on Jews and the Civil War.

Sandee Brawarsky's column mentioned "Jews and the Civil War: A Reader," in addition to other books on different topics.

Civil war buffs are an insatiable crew, and here’s a new book that will appeal to them, as well as to others interested in American Jewish history, culture and identity.

“Jews and the Civil War: A Reader” edited by Jonathan D. Sarna and Adam Mendelsohn (NYU) is a collection of essays by noted scholars, edited by Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis and chief historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History, and Mendelsohn, a professor of Jewish studies and director of the Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston, in South Carolina.

The wide-ranging pieces describe how Jews experienced the war, in the North and in the South, and how the war divided Jews. Contributors take up the subjects of Jews, slavery and abolition; the role of rabbis; Jewish civilian life; Jews in the army — more than 8000 Jewish soldiers fought — and on the home front.

Also mentioned in the article:

-- “Blows to the Head: How Boxing Changed My Mind,” by Binnie Klein (Excelsior Editions).

-- “Keep Your Wives Away From Them: Orthodox Women, Unorthodox Desires – An Anthology,” edited by Miryam Kabakov.

-- “Bedouin Law from Sinai and the Negev: Justice Without Government,” by Clinton Bailey (Yale University Press).

Read the complete column at the link above.