Jews Against Prejudice: American Jews and the Fight for Civil Liberties »

Stuart Svonkin received his Ph.D. in History from Columbia University and will complete his J.D. from Harvard Law School in the Spring of 1999. He has taught American History and Jewish History at Columbia University and the New School for Social Research.

This vital contribution to the story of civil rights in modern America traces the political evolution of Jewish defense organizations from their initial incarnations as groups concerned primarily with defending American Jews against the virulent anti-Semitism of the 1920s and 1930s to their leading role in the fight against all forms of prejudice during the middle half of this century.

Boston Book Review

An extravagantly-researched, tightly-focused survey of the internal development of three important Jewish organizations fighting discrimination at a crucial time. . . . There is a fascinating story behind the bureaucratic history Svonkin has recounted.