“Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer” by Margalit Fox. Nonfiction. Random House. 2018. English. 318 pages. ISBN: 0399589457.
In 1908, a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow home. The police found a convenient suspect in Oscar Slater—an immigrant Jewish cardsharp—who, despite his obvious innocence, was tried, convicted and consigned to life at hard labor in a brutal Scottish prison. Conan Doyle, already world famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was outraged by this injustice. Using the methods of his most famous character, he scoured trial transcripts, newspaper accounts, and eyewitness statements, meticulously noting myriad holes, inconsistencies, and outright fabrications by police and prosecutors. The book follows Conan Doyle’s work over decades to free Slater.
“Disarmed: Unconventional Lessons from the World’s Only One-Armed Special Forces Sharpshooter” by Izzy Ezagui. Nonfiction. Prometheus Books. Distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services. 2018. English. 288 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1633884274.
On January 8, 2009, Izzy Ezagui—an American who had enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at age 19—lost his arm in a mortar attack on the border of the Gaza Strip. In this stirring and wryly humorous memoir, Izzy recounts his tortuous trek through rehabilitation to re-enlistment as a squad commander in the IDF. He became the world’s only one-armed Special Forces sharpshooter.
“Zion’s Fiction: A Treasury of Israeli Speculative Literature” by Sheldon Teitelbaum and Emanuel Lottem, eds. Fiction. Mandel Vilar Press. 2018. English. 320 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1942134527.
This anthology showcases the best Israeli science fiction and fantasy literature published since the 1980s. The stories included come from Hebrew, Russian and English-language sources, and include well-known authors such as Shimon Adaf, Pesach (Pavel) Amnuel, Gail Hareven, Savyon Liebrecht, Nava Semel and Lavie Tidhar, as well as a hot-list of newly translated Israeli writers. The book features an historical and contemporary survey of Israeli science fiction and fantasy literature by the editors; a foreword by revered SF/F writer Robert Silverberg; an afterword by Dr. Aharon Hauptman, the founding editor of Fantasia 2000, Israel’s seminal SF/F magazine; an author biography for each story included in the volume; and illustrations for each story by award-winning American-born Israeli srtist, Avi Katz.
“Not Our Kind” by Kitty Zeldis. Fiction. Harper Books. 2018. English. 352 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0062844231.
One rainy morning in June, two years after the end of World War II, a minor traffic accident brings together Eleanor Moskowitz and Patricia Bellamy. Their encounter seems fated: Eleanor, a teacher and recent Vassar graduate, needs a job. Patricia’s difficult 13-year-old daughter, Margaux, recovering from polio, needs a private tutor.
Soon the idealistic young woman is filling the bright young girl’s mind with Shakespeare and Latin. Though her mother, a hat maker with a little shop on Second Avenue, disapproves, Eleanor takes pride in her work, even if she must use the name “Moss” to enter the Bellamys’ restricted doorman building each morning, and feels that Patricia’s husband, Wynn, may have a problem with her being Jewish.
Invited to keep Margaux company at the Bellamys’ country home in a small town in Connecticut, Eleanor meets Patricia’s unreliable, bohemian brother, Tom, recently returned from Europe. The spark between Eleanor and Tom is instant and intense. Flushed with new romance and increasingly attached to her young pupil, Eleanor begins to feel more comfortable with Patricia and much of the world she inhabits. As the summer wears on, the two women’s friendship grows—until one hot summer evening, a line is crossed, and both Eleanor and Patricia will have to make important decisions—choices that will reverberate through their lives.
Gripping and vividly told, “Not Our Kind” illuminates the lives of two women on the cusp of change—and asks how much our pasts can and should define our futures.
“Hearts and Minds: Israel and the Battle for Public Opinion” by Nachman Shai. Nonfiction. SUNY Press. 2018. English. 284 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1438469058.
In this book, Nachman Shai examines the case of Israel, a liberal democratic state faced with an incessant stream of diverse, low-intensity threats. Shai discusses the military, political, economic, legal and public diplomacy fronts of the second intifada (2000-2005) and how Israel deliberated its response in an environment where the state is only one of the players in a global arena in which individuals, nongovernmental organizations and international news corporations all operate.
“Through Shai’s highly persuasive and constructive criticisms, he also reveals the internal rivalries that hinder effective policy. Consistently, but with civility, he points out who has contributed to hasbara, and who has impeded progress. Names are named. Shai is, after all, a politician. However, he is also an impassioned scholar. His clarity and thoroughness—including extensive notes and references—make this book an important read for all who care about Israel’s future.” —Jewish Book Council
Winner of the 2013 Yitzhak Sadeh Prize for Military Literature. Nachman Shai is member of the Knesset.
By Phil Jacobs
