A01=David J. Sorkin
A01=George L. Mosse
antisemitism
Author_David J. Sorkin
Author_George L. Mosse
Category=JBSR
Category=NHB
Category=NHTB
cultural history
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Europe
fascism
group identity
intellectuals
Jewish culture
Jewish--Europe
Judaism
nineteenth century
social cohesion
twentieth century
Weimar Republic
Zionism
Product details
- ISBN 9780299352844
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 10 Jun 2025
- Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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First published in 1985, German Jews Beyond Judaism is George L. Mosse’s sweeping exploration of German Jewish secular identity across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In Germany, Jews were emancipated at a time when cultural education was becoming an integral part of German society. They felt a powerful urge to find their Jewish substance within German culture and thus craft an identity as both Germans and Jews. Mosse argues that they did so by adopting the concept of Bildung―the idea of intellectual and moral self-cultivation―combined with key Enlightenment ideals of human potential, individualism, and the connection between knowledge and morality through aesthetics. He traces how Jewish artists, writers, and thinkers actively sought to participate in German culture through popular culture, scholarship, and political activity. Despite the eventual dissolution of German-Jewish dialogue due to the emergence of a virulently racist nationalism, important Jewish heritage emerged as a result of this attempt to integrate both identities.
German Jews Beyond Judaism was, in Mosse’s own estimation, his “most personal book, almost a confession of faith.” David J. Sorkin’s new critical introduction illustrates how Mosse’s life and values both shaped and exemplified his historical analysis and offers potential meanings of his intellectual legacy for the present day.
German Jews Beyond Judaism was, in Mosse’s own estimation, his “most personal book, almost a confession of faith.” David J. Sorkin’s new critical introduction illustrates how Mosse’s life and values both shaped and exemplified his historical analysis and offers potential meanings of his intellectual legacy for the present day.
George L. Mosse (1918–99) was a legendary scholar, teacher, and mentor. A refugee from Nazi Germany, in 1955 he joined the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was both influential and popular. Mosse was an early leader in the study of modern European cultural and intellectual history, the study of fascism, and the history of sexuality and masculinity. Over his career, he authored more than two dozen books.
