{"product_id":"on-middle-ground-9781421424521","title":"On Middle Ground","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA model of Jewish community history that will enlighten anyone interested in Baltimore and its past.   Winner of the Southern Jewish Historical Society Book Prize by the Southern Jewish Historical Society; Finalist of the American Jewish Studies Book Award by the Jewish Book Council National Jewish Book AwardsIn 1938, Gustav Brunn and his family fled Nazi Germany and settled in Baltimore. Brunn found a job at McCormick's Spice Company but was fired after three days when, according to family legend, the manager discovered he was Jewish. He started his own successful business using a spice mill he brought over from Germany and developed a blend especially for the seafood purveyors across the street. Before long, his Old Bay spice blend would grace kitchen cabinets in virtually every home in Maryland. The Brunns sold the business in 1986. Four years later, Old Bay was again soldto McCormick. In On Middle Ground, the first truly comprehensive history of Baltimore's Jewish community, Eric L\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn Middle Ground\u003c\/i\u003e provides a holistic approach to chronicling Baltimore's Jewish community. Drawing upon rich sources spanning over 250 years—including manuscript collections, oral histories, and newspaper accounts—this history is told in concert with the history of Baltimore's Jewish institutions, and its diverse ethnic community bringing them to life in a way that is unique to Baltimore. \u003ci\u003eOn Middle Ground\u003c\/i\u003e is a foundational work that uses Baltimore as a historical case study to analyze some of the influential culminations of American Jewish life.\u003cbr\u003e—Charles L. Chavis Jr., \u003ci\u003eThe American Jewish Archives Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEric L. Goldstein and Deborah R. Weiner trace the history of the Jews of the city of Baltimore from colonial times through the present, providing one of the few comprehensive histories of an American Jewish community outside of New York City. In addition to telling the story of the American Jewish experience at a local level, the authors ask how a variety of different factors—particularly geography, class conflict, and racial dynamics—have shaped the contours of American ethnic identity.\u003cbr\u003e—Lawrence Charap, \u003ci\u003eJournal of American History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[\u003ci\u003eOn Middle Ground\u003c\/i\u003e] offers an outstanding model of deeply researched local ethnic history.\u003cbr\u003e—Joshua Furman, Rice University, \u003ci\u003eJournal of Southern History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs award-winning historians sponsored by the Jewish Museum of Maryland, Goldstein and Weiner write as both insiders and outsiders. Community members will see names and institutions acknowledged, and scholars will find informed argument. Anecdotes enliven the social history . . . Goldstein and Weiner argue for Baltimore's place as a \"city and mother in Israel\" among the foundational communities of American Jewry. In so doing they ask us to rethink our assumptions. Engagingly written, cogently argued, this book, like Baltimore itself, deserves a place among the exceptional Jewish histories of Boston, Cincinnati, and New York.\u003cbr\u003e—Leonard Rogoff, Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Jewish History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn Middle Ground: A History of the Jews of Baltimore \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a prodigiously researched and highly nuanced history of Baltimore Jewry. Readers unfamiliar with the contours of American Jewish history will find myriad connections to topics important in African American, ethnic, labor, political, and urban history.\u003cbr\u003e—Mark Greenberg, Western Washington University, \u003ci\u003eJournal of Southern Religion\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe history of Baltimore Jews, as Goldstein and Weiner so deftly show, often proves to be exceptional, challenging accepted narratives of American Jewish history. \u003ci\u003eOn Middle Ground\u003c\/i\u003e persuasively demonstrates the value of a Jewish urban history that draws heavily on urban social, economic, and political studies of the past several decades.\u003cbr\u003e—Deborah Dash Moore, University of Michigan, \u003ci\u003eSouthern Jewish History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGoldstein and Weiner detail every aspect of Jewish life, including day-to-day economic obstacles and opportunities, long-term political struggles, religious observance, and efforts to build communal and social institutions. In all of these spheres, Goldstein and Weiner highlight the influence of a succession of Jewish immigrants, from a variety of locales, with diverse religious and cultural practices . . . \u003ci\u003eOn Middle Ground\u003c\/i\u003e provides a comprehensive biography of the city itself and all of its ethnic and religious communities.\u003cbr\u003e—Toni Pitock, University of Delaware, \u003ci\u003eReviews in History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgmentsix\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction1\u003cbr\u003eOne. Baltimore's First Jews17\u003cbr\u003eTwo. A \"City and Mother in Israel\"53\u003cbr\u003eThree. The Great Wave Hits Baltimore104\u003cbr\u003eFour. Bawlmer Jews: The Interwar Years179\u003cbr\u003eFive. From Baltimore to Pikesville244\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue. The Challenges of a New Century301\u003cbr\u003eNotes 321\u003cbr\u003eIndex 369\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Johns Hopkins University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49529535398231,"sku":"9781421424521","price":31.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781421424521.jpg?v=1731875999","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/on-middle-ground-9781421424521","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}