"Efron's account of how German Jewry fantasied a perfect world in which Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived in peace and harmony in medieval Spain reveals how an entire culture generated a perfect past to help escape from an increasingly noxious present. This is an exceptionally well-researched and well-written book about a self-deception that has not vanished."--Sander L. Gilman, author of Freud, Race, and Gender
"An astutely argued, beautifully wrought book by an accomplished historian. Efron provides a compelling--and also poignant--tale of German Jewry's valorization of Jewish life under Islam as a model for modern emulation. A truly impressive work of cultural archaeology."--Steven J. Zipperstein, author of Rosenfeld's Lives: Fame, Oblivion, and the Furies of Writing
"Efron has written a fluid, compelling, and deeply learned account of the allure of medieval Sephardic culture and history to modernizing German Jews. His reading of how this 'other' became constitutive of nineteenth-century German-Jewish culture is persuasive, elegant, and--no small feat--entertaining."--Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University
"Until now there has been no systematic study of the German-Jewish fascination with Sephardic culture. This superb book fills this gap. Efron truly broadens our understanding of German Jewry, taking readers on an exciting and little-known journey through the rich treasures of modern Jewish culture."--Michael Brenner, author of Prophets of the Past: Interpreters of Jewish History
"German Jewry and the Allure of the Sephardic is the definitive account of the subject. This richly documented and beautifully written book makes quite clear what the stakes were for German Jews in summoning forth the memory of Sephardic forebears. Efron is a historian at the top of his game."--David N. Myers, author of Resisting History: Historicism and Its Discontents in German-Jewish Thought