The is little doubt that anti-semitism is on the rise, fueled by the explosion of social media and the rising tide of hatred in the U.S. and overseas. This book dives into current examples of anti-semitism and white nationalist violent demonstrations happening in the U.S. and in Europe today as well as in the past, including a long look at Holocaust deniers. I did not care for the book's format, where Lipstadt uses a series of letters to guide her wide-ranging but seemingly unfocused discussion. Anger against Israel's treatment of Palestinians, unjustified fears of Jewish control of governments and the media, even stereotypes or arguments that Jews are better off than other minorities, indifference to aggression against by political leaders like President Trump, the Labour Party in the U.K. and in France, and the failure of Warsaw bloc to acknowledge their complicity in the deportation of Jews are some of the many reasons for this deplorable situation. ( )

Deborah Lipstadt's book "Antisemitism: Here and Now" is an informative look at antisemitism within the past decade. The book is written as a series of personal letters between Lipstadt, a fictional college student, and a fictional university colleague. This format makes the very approachable.

A few historical details are discussed briefly, but for the most part, Lipstadt sticks to recent iterations of antisemitism. Specifically, she concentrates on far right politics in the US and Europe, left wing politics in Great Britain, how it appears on the internet, and how it manifests as violence. She identifies different types of antisemitism and how subtle prejudices metastasize.

Lipstadt frequently goes into long lists of recent antisemitic events in order to make a point. I had forgotten about many of the events until I read this book. That illustrates just how pervasive antisemitism can be.

Some topics in the book, such as the uneasy alliance between right wing Holocaust deniers in Eastern Europe and the right wing in Israel, are new to me. Other topics are familiar, such as the debate about free speech on college campuses, but are given good elucidation by Lipstadt.

At times the book feels like it's written for college students. Perhaps that's because the three people involved in the fictional correspondence all live in academia. Topics such as campus free-speech and the role of debate on campus receive quite a lot of ink but certainly fit in the overall narrative of the letters.

I would like to read more from Lipstadt about legitimate criticism of the government of Israel, anti-Zionism, and antisemitism. Lipstadt brings up these topics several times - she clearly says there is room for criticism of the government - but I would have liked to have this further spelled out. I imagine the author has written about this in other works.

Despite the heavy nature of the book, "Antisemimtism: Here and Now" is easy to read. The writing is logical, connected, and smooth, and Lipstadt's points come through clearly and effectively. ( )

“Lipstadt aims not to break new scholarly ground but to awaken her audience to the nature, persistence and scale of the threat, along with the insidious ways in which it seeks to disguise itself. She succeeds . . . She has written a book that combines erudition, clarity, accessibility and passion at a moment when they could not be needed more.” —Bret Stephens, The New York Times Book Review