Description
Book SynopsisA pioneering biography of Nathan Birnbaum, one of the central but largely forgotten founders of Zionism, leader in Jewish nationalism, and theoretician of Orthodox political activism.
Trade Review"Researchers of Yiddish as well as those devoted to the study of East European Jewish history in general will welcome this book-length study of Nathan Birnbaum, perhaps the foremost ideologue of Ashkenazic Jewry . . . Olson has provided us with a solid grasp of the work of Nathan Birnbaum. Moreover, for the study of Jewish languages, Olson has established that language planning is integrated into social and cultural planning." -- Rakhmiel Peltz * Drexel University,
Journal of Jewish Languages *
"This book is recommended for synagogue, personal, and academic collections." -- Daniel D. Stuhlman *
Association of Jewish Libraries *
"Olson expertly traces his remarkable trajectory across continents and intellectual movements. . . Olson's vivid portrait of Birnbaum introduces the reader to a man who not only proposed utopian solutions borne of deep pessimism but also laboured feverishly, to his material and physical detriment, to implement innovative and at times radical strategies to realize them." -- Kalman Weiser *
The Marginalia Review *
"A detailed account of this mercurial and celebrated figure. A persuasive case for a reconsideration of Birnbaum's place in the pantheon of European Jewish ideologues, publicists, and activists." -- David Rechter * University of Oxford *
"Olson has filled a lacuna that should have been addressed long ago. He brings readers into the mind of this profound intellectual and neglected Jewish leader, helping us to understand both what drove Birnbaum over his six-decade multifaceted career and the tensions and choices of his contemporaries and successors." -- Joshua Shanes *
Jewish History *
