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] 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.
Videos
Professor Pamela Nadell testifying before Congress on the history of antisemitism and the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism on December 5, 2023.
American University’s Jewish Studies Program published Understanding Antisemitism: A Guide for the American University Community, led by lead author Pamela Nadell.
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.
November 9, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Talk, Mah Tovu Congregation, Chicago, IL
November 10, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Event, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
November 12, 2025, Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Launch, American University, Washington, DC
November 13, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Event, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA
November 17, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Launch, Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, San Diego, CA
November 20, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Miami Book Fair, Miami, FL
November 23, 2025 Miami Book Fair with Lisa Hostein, in conjunction with Hadassah Magazine
December 3, 2025 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Online for Congregation Emeth, Morgan Hill, CA
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