Overview
In Antisemitism, an American Tradition, scholar Pamela S. Nadell investigates the depth of this fraught history. She explores how Jews fought antisemitism through the law and by creating organizations to speak for them. Jews would also fight back with their fists or join with allies in fighting all types of hate. This momentous work sounds the alarm on a hatred that continues to plague our country.
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
To Order
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
Product Details
- Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 14, 2025)
- Hardcover 352 pages
- ISBN-10: 1324050640
- ISBN-13: 978-1324050643
Book Events
Highlights of Pamela Nadell’s book tour include conversations with The Atlantic‘s Franklin Foer at New York’s Center for Jewish History on September 29, former Maryland Center Ben Cardin at Washington, DC’s Politics and Prose Book Store on October 14, and The New York Times’s Bret Stephens at Pittsburgh’s The Tree of Life of October 19. Already, more than fifty book events are scheduled. Visit Events page to see the full list.
March 16, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Keynote, Central Conference of American Rabbis Convention
March 20, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Talk, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, Overland Park, Kansas
March 29, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Event, Jewish Federation of the Desert
April 16, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Event, Central Synagogue, New York City
April 19, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Book Talk, Jewish University for a Day, State University of New York at Stony Brook
April 28, 2026 Antisemitism, an American Tradition Book Talk, Columbus Jewish Community Center, Columbus, Ohio