Isaac Babel
Odessa Story
The Ukrainian Black Sea port has lost most of its Jews, but not the vestiges of the muddled, criminal city Isaac Babel imagined
Brittle Odessa
Cosmopolitan yet barbarous, Jew-filled and Jew-free, remote but central—a new history explores the Black Sea port city’s many contradictions
Men of Mystery
One the eve of the release of his 11th book, spy novelist Alan Furst reflects on his sources of inspiration and his cerebral and wordly—if not always Jewish—protagonists
A History of Violence
Lionel Trilling was a classicist who did not believe in creativity’s lower depths. So what did he see in Isaac Babel?
Even Criminals Rest in Peace
What would Jewish law have to say about alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s burial?
When Berlin Meant Business
Berlin was once home to 50,000 Jewish-owned businesses. A historian is now obsessively reconstructing their demise.
In Praise of Dairy Restaurants
A visit to B&H Restaurant on Second Avenue brings back memories of milchig establishments of yore
Curse of the Survivor
Singer Vera Gran was haunted by allegations of Nazi collaboration. A new book asks if survival made her guilty.
