Fredriksen on Nirenberg, Anti-Judaism

MARGINALIA: Paula Fredriksen on David Nirenberg’s Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition. Conclusion:

Do any of these infelicities matter? Yes and no. Yes, they matter if you want a historical description of these ancient texts and their authors in context. No, they don’t if you want to know the particular ingredients of the West’s tradition of anti-Judaism. That latter project is the heart of this haunting book. Read it. You will find yourself, again and again, wishing that you could reach your hand back in time, catch these toxic themes at their launch, and prevent all the deaths that you know will surely follow.

An earlier review and an essay by Nirenberg are noted here.