Bernard Wasserstein has been a historian of modern Jewish and Middle Eastern history for over thirty years. He taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was Professor of History at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2000 he served as President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies; and is now Professor of History at Chicago University.

Nothing less than a marvel. Nothing escapes his gaze Sunday Times The extensively researched On the Eve is an enlightening and moving evocation of the richness and heterogenity ... of Jewish life in pre-war Europe. Jewish Chronicle In poignant detail, Wasserstein chronicles the salons, publishing houses and film studios of Jewish communities in Lithuania, Poland and Austria. The book is brocaded with scenes of a people and a culture in their final hour. Independent Only the finest historian could hope to expose the anti-semitic idiocies of 1930s Europe and explore the Jewish response in a sensitive and even-handed way. Enter Wasserstein, who has written one of the most important books I've ever read. -- Jonathan Wright Herald

Bernard Wasserstein has been a historian of modern Jewish and Middle Eastern history for over thirty years. He taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was Professor of History at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2000 he served as President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies; and is now Professor of History at Chicago University.

Nothing less than a marvel. Nothing escapes his gaze Sunday Times The extensively researched On the Eve is an enlightening and moving evocation of the richness and heterogenity ... of Jewish life in pre-war Europe. Jewish Chronicle In poignant detail, Wasserstein chronicles the salons, publishing houses and film studios of Jewish communities in Lithuania, Poland and Austria. The book is brocaded with scenes of a people and a culture in their final hour. Independent Only the finest historian could hope to expose the anti-semitic idiocies of 1930s Europe and explore the Jewish response in a sensitive and even-handed way. Enter Wasserstein, who has written one of the most important books I've ever read. -- Jonathan Wright Herald