My new book, 'Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery'

I am wildly excited that publication day is finally here for my new book, Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery.

It’s a very strange feeling to have worked on something, largely in solitude, for so long, and now for it to finally be made available to the world. I thought I’d share with you, my loyal early podcast followers, some thoughts about the book’s origins and the six main characters whose lives in the period I follow against the background of a much larger story about the Jewish encounter with American slavery, the political debate over its future, and the four-year armed struggle that finally ended it. Many of the same debates we’re having today—about race, religion, morality, politics, justice—were had back then, in remarkably similar terms if in a completely different historical context.

There’s a lot more to the book than I could possibly get into here, so I do hope you’ll check it out. Publisher’s Weekly calls it “riveting…. Readers will be engrossed.” I’m very pleased with this book and learned a lot about writing, Judaism, history, and myself while working on it.

I’ll be back next week with a proper Think Back episode, another interview with a historian who has some really insightful things to say about an often misunderstood era in American history. In the meantime, I’d be grateful if you’d follow, like, rate, and review the podcast—and above all share with friends. And please pick up a copy of the book!

By the way, if you live anywhere near the Hudson Valley, I’ll be speaking about the book with Rabbi Brent Spodek at the Howland Cultural Center, here in Beacon, on Wednesday, April 2, and with the writer Debra Bruno (whose excellent book on slavery in the Hudson Valley I reviewed for Chronogram last year) at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, on Thursday, April 8. It’d be great to see you there.