Immigrant Jews of New York
Product details
- ISBN 9781041026655
- Weight: 1610g
- Dimensions: 174 x 246mm
- Publication Date: 01 May 2025
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Originally published in 1976, this monumental volume is a study of one of the major migrations of modern times – the result of which has been significantly to alter the history of the United States and of the whole Middle East. In researching this volume, the author drew on many different sources, including the rich materials of the Yiddish press and the vast number of memoirs written in both English and Yiddish. The book traces the historical, cultural and social experience of the immigrant Jews to New York in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who came mainly from Eastern Europe. It covers many aspects of Jewish life in New York – the early years on the East side, Jewish children in American schools, the growth of Yiddish-speaking socialist movements and trade unions, the passion for learning which animated this culture and Yiddish culture in its many manifestations.
Irving Howe (1920-1993) was a major American public intellectual, who was recognized as a literary, political, and social critic. He was passionate about literature, social democratic ideas, and Judaism. His interest in Jewish history is exemplified in The Immigrant Jews of New York, where he traces the story of immigration of Jews to New York and their major political, literary and cultural challenges, achievements, and contributions to American society in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Howe’s complementary interests in literature, politics, and culture are interwoven across the chapters of the book and provide a vivid and enduring picture of the life of these immigrants. It also reflects Howe’s own experiences of growing up in New York as the son of Jewish immigrants. Yiddish was his first language. He was instrumental in editing, translating, and collecting Yiddish essays, stories, and poetry in several collections. Howe was a MacArthur Fellow, a National Book Award winner, the author of many other books on literary, social, and political criticism, and co-found and long-time editor of Dissent magazine.
