Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947

Genius and Anxiety is a masterpiece but in a particular genre. In a sweeping survey of some one hundred years of Western culture, Lebrecht carefully details the stories and personalities of the Jewish figures who did so much to shape it. While written from a rather typical high culture liberal perspective, Lebrecht discusses artists, scientists and rabbis from all parts of the cultural, political and religious spectrums. The book is so well-written and gripping it is sure to be a classic in the already crowded field of Judaic literature. One will learn the biographies of well-known characters like Proust and how his Jewish ethnicity influenced A Remembrance of Times Past and lesser known characters such as Eliza Davis who did much to correct Dickens’ latent anti-semitism. That said, the book also has its limitations. Lebrecht focuses so much on the personalities and stories of the Jews who shaped Western culture that his description of their actual contributions is rather shallow. Nor is the enigma of why the Jews, as opposed to some other people, contributed so much to modernity well explained. The title of the book is about as much as the author chooses to probe this question. Jews throughout this era were outsiders in a constant state of anxiety about their place in society and even their personal safety. As such, they were in a unique position to criticize and transform Western civilization. Genius and Anxiety is an original book about an already well-discussed era of history. By focusing on the personalities and stories of the Jewish shakers of the modern West, Lebrecht has written a genuine masterpiece. But excitement over what he has achieved should be measured by the fact that there are questions and topics left not only unanswered but also unexplored. Lebrecht concludes the work with a coda that the perennial Jewish question remains unsolved. But I would add that Lebrecht’s book raises many Jewish questions that still perplex modernity.

Norman Lebrecht provides an important review of Jewish individuals who made significant contributions to a tumultuous century. Important for Jews as a reminder and inspiration of how our tradition of Tikun Olam ("repairing the world") has provided a motive force in previous generations. Important for non-Jews (particularly the young) this book provides a counter to current college curricula.

I am giving the book 4 stars instead of five because teh book has too much puff at the front. It tells how great we Jews are in general . The book covers a period my religious education glossed over, but mine was a long time ago so perhaps current Jewish HIstory course cover this. The stories of the people involved are deeply intersting and well told. There is a lot of speculation in the book on some very intersting people and the author clearly states to reasons to doubt the material. The material is very engrossing. Skip the introduction, the story tells the story

This is simply a delightful, engaging read. It's not so much that I learned much about most of these featured persons, but that I got a new context for their lives and interactions. This book extracts the persons from the historical figures in very entertaining ways. His treatment of Freud is priceless. The other thing that the book does with its emphasis on context is to make me less disturbed by our current world situation. Reading this makes me again cognizant that life has never been smooth and that, compared to how things were even in the last 150 years, we in the West are not doing so badly. We should complain less and focus far more on the parts of the world that are in the kind of turmoil that occurred between 1847 and 1947 (the span of this book). Those of us in the West do not have to fear dying at age 35 the way so many of the figures in this book did. Highly recommended.

An important and expertly crafted book! It gets in and around people and events that we thought we knew, but not quite. Served up whole yet effortlessly, Lebrecht gives insights into a topic that is timeless, and for better and worse topical. The Jewish experience has uniquely enriched the world, and yet. Despite of that uniqueness, or because of it? The anxiety that the title references informs the identity of many Jews, but is framed by a thousands year history that has always set us apart. It’s a narrative that is real and relevant for Jews and non-Jews alike.

Wonderful historical review with intertesting stories about Jews who changed the world, but were also changed by the world. You may be surprised by the number of people who were so innovative in so many areas. Insights into their lives that you may have never known. Written in a very readable style. Highly recommend this book.

I learned a tremendous amount from reading this book. I thought that the histories of communism and Zionism were very interesting and well written. At times, however the book seemed to get bogged down with minute detail. There should be subdivision based on the name of the person being discussed , with the name of the person as the title for that piece of the text. With his way of introducing a new person, it was often confusing as to which person was being discussed.

The book is very well written and very informative. One reads it like a thriller.

This is a wonderful book that expanded my understanding of the post 1848 emancipation of Jews in Central Europe to the establishment of the Israeli State. Written from a Jewish perspective the book gives an exceptional insight into the drivers that contributed to the horrific anti-semitism of the 20th Century. The massive contribution of Jews to the flowering of culture in pre-War I Vienna, post 1848, is well described as the Jews respond to the reductions of the barriers to their full participation in Austrian society. The tragic failure of Central Europe to endorse and welcome either assimilation or acceptance is convincingly outlined, and make this a uniquely valuable contribution to understanding both the tragedies inflicted on the Jews, and also a sense of the Jewish intellectual heritage that helped drive the artistic and scientific over-achievement described in this book.

The book briefs through some significent jewish figures in 1847-1947 history. These historical heros contribute to arts, music, science, literature, and many field of human intelligence and political maneuvers. I never thought those famouse people are actually jewish, until read this book. It worth of re-reading again.

A wonderful anthology of the Jewish contribution to European and Jewish culture. The detail across the relevant epoch is extraordinary: I kept asking myself "how does he know that?" as we skip from one intimate detail to another. He represents in his writing an all-embracing erudition (may I say catholic, even) of European culture at its peak

今、半分くらい読みました。とても面白い本だと思います。齋藤英彦

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