Mr. Weiss has an interesting book review in the current American Conservative-- http://amconmag.com/2006/2006_11_20/review.html The chief fault of this book is Stern's resistance to taking on the historian's "metaphysical fluency and ... arrogance" (intellectual qualities he praises in Hannah Arendt) when it comes to Jewish history in the United States. He does not apply to the American scene his knowledge of Bleichroder's presence at Bismarck's side or of the German nationalists' fury toward modernity. This reader kept waiting for Stern's opinion on such issues as: How powerful are Jews in America? How does their role in the economy and the professions compare to Weimar? The obvious question is of course whether our society is capable of seeking the extermination of Jews, but just as interesting is whether the Jewish role in the American establishment has hampered our ability to relate to the Arab world. As it is, the neoconservatives are only glimpsed here, for instance in a crack about how much money Richard Perle has made.
Mr. Weiss has an interesting book review in the current American Conservative--
http://amconmag.com/2006/2006_11_20/review.html
The chief fault of this book is Stern's resistance to taking on the historian's "metaphysical fluency and ... arrogance" (intellectual qualities he praises in Hannah Arendt) when it comes to Jewish history in the United States. He does not apply to the American scene his knowledge of Bleichroder's presence at Bismarck's side or of the German nationalists' fury toward modernity. This reader kept waiting for Stern's opinion on such issues as: How powerful are Jews in America? How does their role in the economy and the professions compare to Weimar? The obvious question is of course whether our society is capable of seeking the extermination of Jews, but just as interesting is whether the Jewish role in the American establishment has hampered our ability to relate to the Arab world. As it is, the neoconservatives are only glimpsed here, for instance in a crack about how much money Richard Perle has made.