Antisemitism, an American Tradition
To Purchase
Pamela Nadell’s new book Antisemitism, an American Tradition investigates the dark history of how this hate threaded across the American past from colonial times to today. Acclaimed as “the book that the world needs now,” The Wall Street Journal named it to its best October books list.
Reviews
“Persuasive. . . . A strength of Ms. Nadell’s book is her blunt identification of antisemitism irrespective of politics, race or religion. It is unfortunate, and distressing, that she has such a wealth of material to draw on. . . At the same time, the book provides grounds for hope.” ― Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal named Antisemitism, an American Tradition to its Best Books of October list.― Wall Street Journal
“[A] worthy and timely addition to the literature on American anti-Semitism”― Commentary
“[A] vital and unsettling new book . . . Nadell’s work is not a lament; it is a map. It tells us where we stand, so that we can choose where to go.” ― Religion News Service
“A searching history of religious intolerance in putatively pluralist America. . . An urgent and provocative work on the history of hostility to American Jews.” ― Kirkus
“At a time when antisemitic incidents are on the rise, Nadell has, to her great credit, catalogued a disturbing side of American history that adds nuance to the widespread belief that the American experience has been a uniquely welcoming one for Jew.” ― Hadassah Magazine
“In her timely – and unfortunately timeless – new book, “Antisemitism, An American Tradition, Professor Pamela Nadell asserts that until recently, American Jews believed that the worst antisemitism was behind us….Her 250 pages, covering 370 years, detail how, from the very beginning, Jews have experienced antisemitism.”― Times of Israel
Advance Praise
“This is the book that the world needs now, a bracing narrative of dark chapters from America’s past–history which continues to stalk the nation. Nadell writes with command and a detective’s sense for where buried episodes of antisemitism can be found.”
― Franklin Foer, author of The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future
“Today it has become common to hear people lament the rise of American antisemitism with words akin to “I never thought I would see this in America.” Pamela Nadell, with her well-proven skill of making the historically complex highly accessible, demonstrates that this is not a new phenomenon. it is an American tradition. Anyone who has been scared, perplexed, or surprised by the current expressions of antisemitism in America should read this book. Anyone who has not, should read it as well.”
―Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism: Here and Now
“Congratulations to Pamela Nadell for a well-documented book on the always present disease of antisemitism in America and how it has metastasized in lost opportunities and violence during our country’s 250-plus year history. The illustrative examples powerfully demonstrate the historic and current challenges for Jews in America.”
― Former Senator Ben Cardin, Maryland
“Pamela S. Nadell understands that ‘antisemitism was and remains a powerful American tradition.’ In this timely and comprehensive book, she courageously bares that tradition, unveiling a darker side of American Jewish history that has, for far too long, lain hidden from view.”
― Jonathan D. Sarna, author of American Judaism
“No book could be more timely than Pamela Nadell’s magisterial history of American antisemitism. Reading her meticulous account of over two centuries of anti-Jewish rhetoric, agitation, and physical violence helps us to better understand the nature of today’s antisemitism.”
― Michael Brenner, author of In Hitler’s Munich
Upcoming Events
About Me
Acclaimed lecturer and teacher, Professor Pamela Nadell is the author of America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today, winner of the 2019 National Jewish Book Award—Jewish Book of the Year.
She is currently writing Antisemitism, an American Tradition and was the fourth witness in that now infamous Congressional hearing with the university presidents.
Media
Hadassah Magazine editor-in-chief joins Pamela Nadell for Unpacking Antisemitism in America at the Miami Book Fair. November 23, 2025
Dr. Daniel Greene interviews Pamela Nadell about Antisemitism an American Tradition at Northwestern University. November 10, 2025
The New York Times columnist Bret Stephens interviews Pamela Nadell about Antisemitism an American Tradition at Pittsburgh’s The Tree of Life. October 19, 2025
Former Maryland Senator Ben Cardin interviews Pamela Nadell about Antisemitism an American Tradition at Washington, DC’s Politics and Prose Bookstore. October 14, 2025
Pamela Nadell testified on before Congress alongside the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and University of Pennsylvania. December 5, 2023.
America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today, was the winner of the 2019 National Jewish Book Award—Jewish Book of the Year.
December 4, 2025, Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Klass Lecture, University of Southern California, DC Campus
December 8, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Virtual Book Talk, Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies
December 11, 2025 Antisemitism Past and Present, Capital Jewish Museum, Washington, DC
December 14, 2025 JWI Jewish Women’s Leadership Conference, Marriott Marquis, Washington, DC
December 31, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Symposium, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
January 6, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
January 8, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Tel Aviv University, Israel
January 15, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Book Talk, Brandeis University
January 18, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Hebrew College & Jewish Genealogical Society of Boston, Virtual
January 20, 2026 70 Faces Media in partnership with UJA Federation of NY on Zoom