{"product_id":"berlin-for-jews-leonard-barkan-9780226010663","title":"Berlin for Jews: A Twenty-First-Century Companion","description":"What is it like to travel to Berlin today, particularly as a Jew, and bring with you the baggage of history? And what happens when an American Jew, raised by a secular family, falls in love with Berlin not \u003ci\u003ein spite\u003c\/i\u003e of his being a Jew but \u003ci\u003ebecause\u003c\/i\u003e of it? The answer is \u003ci\u003eBerlin for Jews\u003c\/i\u003e. Part history and part travel companion, \u003cb\u003eLeonard Barkan's\u003c\/b\u003e personal love letter to the city shows how its long Jewish heritage, despite the atrocities of the Nazi era, has left an inspiring imprint on the vibrant metropolis of today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Barkan, voraciously curious and witty, offers a self-deprecating guide to the history of Jewish life in Berlin, revealing how, beginning in the early nineteenth century, Jews became prominent in the arts, the sciences, and the city's public life. With him, we tour the ivy-covered confines of the Sch nhauser Allee cemetery, where many distinguished Jewish Berliners have been buried, and we stroll through Bayerisches Viertel, an elegant neighborhood created by a Jewish developer and that came to be called Berlin's \"Jewish Switzerland.\" We travel back to the early nineteenth century to the salon of Rahel Varnhagen, a Jewish society doyenne, who frequently hosted famous artists, writers, politicians, and the occasional royal. Barkan also introduces us to James Simon, a turn-of-the-century philanthropist and art collector, and we explore the life of Walter Benjamin, who wrote a memoir of his childhood in Berlin as a member of the assimilated Jewish upper-middle class. Throughout, Barkan muses about his own Jewishness, while celebrating the rich Jewish culture on view in today's Berlin. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A winning, idiosyncratic travel companion, \u003ci\u003eBerlin for Jews\u003c\/i\u003e offers a way to engage with German history, to acknowledge the unspeakable while extolling the indelible influence of Jewish culture. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Leonard Barkan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 022601066X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226010663\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/04\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.00w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/15\/2016 pg. 104\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/03\/2017","brand":"Leonard Barkan","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43946333077759,"sku":"9780226010663","price":27.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_1bd1a01a-8f25-45d1-8e0c-c5b925442d45.jpg?v=1681512568","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/berlin-for-jews-leonard-barkan-9780226010663","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}