Overview

In the early decades of the twentieth century, tens of thousands of Yiddish speaking immigrants actively participated in the American Socialist and labor movement. They formed the milieu of the hugely successful daily Forverts (Forward), established in New York in April 1897. Its editorial columns and bylined articles-many of whose authors, such as Abraham Cahan and Sholem Asch, were household names at the time-both reflected and shaped the attitudes and values of the readership. Most pages of this book are focused on the newspaper's reaction to the political developments in the home country. Profound admiration of Russian literature and culture did not mitigate the writers' criticism of the czarist and Soviet regimes.

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9781644693636

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Now, finally, we have a scholarly volume that considers the history of the Forverts as a global institution. Professor Gennady Estraikh has been associated with the Forverts for more than 30 years and he knows the newspaper inside and out. He had previously used material from the newspaper for his own research, and he now has a book which places the Forverts and Cahan center stage. --Mikhail Krutikov, The Forward Estraikh's detailed study of the longstanding Yiddish newspaper, the Forverts, draws on many primary and secondary sources. He examines in depth its ideological development under the editorial leadership of flamboyant personalities such as Abraham Cahan, Moyshe Olgin, David Eynhorn, and David Bergelson. The book is well written and captivating, particularly in the way it dramatically weaves stories and anecdotes relating to the paper's editors and contributors. Most importantly, it reveals how the Forverts was a mirror to the acculturation and assimilation process of many Yiddish speaking Jewish Americans. ... This work will be a benchmark for future studies not only on the history of the Forverts and its editors, but also on the history of the Jewish left and Jewish intellectual ideas, as well as a standard for studying the evolution from Jewish affiliation with secular socialism to Zionistic religiosity. --David Levy, Lander College for Women, AJL Reviews

Now, finally, we have a scholarly volume that considers the history of the Forverts as a global institution. Professor Gennady Estraikh has been associated with the Forverts for more than 30 years and he knows the newspaper inside and out. He had previously used material from the newspaper for his own research, and he now has a book which places the Forverts and Cahan center stage. --Mikhail Krutikov, The Forward

Author Information

Gennady Estraikh is a Clinical Professor at New York University. He received a doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1996, and has worked at the Oxford Institute of Yiddish Studies and London University. He is Director of the Shvidler Project for the History of the Jews of the Soviet Union at NYU, and Senior Scholar at the Moscow Higher School of Economics.

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