SACHAR, Howard Morley 1928-

PERSONAL: Born February 10, 1928, in St. Louis, MO; son of Abram Leon (a founder and president of Brandeis University) and Thelma (Horwitz) Sachar; married Eliana Steimatzky, July 23, 1964; children: Sharon, Michele, Daniel. Education: Swarthmore College, B.A., 1947; Harvard University, M.A., 1950, Ph.D., 1953. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES: Home—9807 Hillridge Dr., Kensington, MD 20895-3228. Office—Department of History, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052. E-mail—sachar@gwls2.circ.gwu.edu.

CAREER: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, instructor, 1953-54; University of California, Los Angeles, director of Hillel Foundation, 1954-57; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, director of Hillel Foundation, 1959-61; Brandeis University, Jacob Hiatt Institute, Jerusalem, Israel, director, 1961-64; George Washington University, Washington, DC, associate professor, 1965-66, professor of history, 1966—.

MEMBER: American Historical Association, American Jewish History Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Sigma Rho.

AWARDS, HONORS: Charles Brown fellow, 1957-58; National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, 1970-71; National Jewish Book Award, 1976, 1981; D.H.L., Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, 1996.

WRITINGS:

The Course of Modern Jewish History, World Publishing (Cleveland, OH), 1958, revised edition, 1990.

Aliyah: The Peoples of Israel, World Publishing (Cleveland, OH), 1961.

From the Ends of the Earth: The Peoples of Israel, World Publishing (Cleveland, OH), 1964.

The Emergence of the Middle East, 1914-1924, Knopf (New York, NY), 1969.

Europe Leaves the Middle East, 1936-1954, Knopf (New York, NY), 1972.

A History of Israel, Knopf (New York, NY), Volume 1: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, 1976, Volume 2: The Aftermath of the Yom Kippur War, 1987, 2nd edition, revised and updated, Knopf (New York, NY), 1996.

The Man on the Camel (novel), Times Books (New York, NY), 1980.

Egypt and Israel, R. Marek (New York, NY), 1981.

The Last Century of Jewish Hope: An Historian's Critique, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1983.

Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, Harper (New York, NY), 1985.

A History of the Jews in America, Knopf (New York, NY), 1992.

Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, Knopf (New York, NY), 1994.

Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, Knopf (New York, NY), 1999.

Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the Aftermath of the Great War, Knopf (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS: Howard M. Sachar is the author of several highly praised historical studies of modern Israel, the Zionist movement, and the Middle East. Unlike the works of many of his fellow academics, Sachar's "encyclopedic" books have consistently been praised for their readability. Commentary's Joseph Shattan, for example, called A History of Israel "an extraordinary work, a triumph of comprehensive scholarship which is also a delight to read," while the New York Times Book Review's Meyer Levin wrote: "With masterful control of the extraordinarily complex and profuse accumulation of material, with an underlying universal compassion, and an historical objectivity that nevertheless does not disguise his personal viewpoint, Sachar has provided the overall picture of the Jewish movement to statehood, and since statehood.... Though written in the controlled, even tone of the historian, the work, particularly in its accounts of the wars of survival, has enormous tension."

The Nation's Phebe Marr pointed to The Emergence of the Middle East as "the best and most comprehensive account thus far [of the events in that area from 1914 to 1924]. It is also among the most balanced and by far the most fascinating." The same book prompted Lord Kinross to comment in the New York Times Book Review: "Historians do not always combine scholarship with narrative style, a dramatic sense, an eye for human personality and a feeling for atmosphere. Churchill, the man of action, had these talents to perfection. They are shared to a distinct if unassuming degree by Howard M. Sachar....In unfolding [his]story . . ., he clothes the bare bones of historical fact with the flesh and blood of living, warring peoples."

In a review of The Course of Modern Jewish History, the Springfield Republican's Donald Derby summarized this skill as the ability to write "with learning and with feeling," a sentiment echoed by Ellis Rivkin in a New York Herald Tribune Book Review article on the same work. Concluded Rivkin: "Howard Sachar . . . has gone far towards writing the kind of Jewish history that yields understanding....Although the volume is packed with facts, his presentation is anything but pedantic. He has strong opinions and he expresses them; he never shrinks from candid appraisal. He attempts to explain phenomena, and he holds the reader's interest by the pace, the enthusiasm, and sometimes even the excitement of his writing.... [His book] is a work of merit, full of fine insights, written with clarity, enthusiasm, and passion, brimming with data, sweeping in its ambitious scope."

Reviewing Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, a Publishers Weekly writer advised, "Sachar succeeds at a very difficult task, lucidly tracing the history of Israel's relations with Europe in one book." Sachar's stance is pro-Israeli, and his personal feelings do color the book, commented Serge Schmemann in New York Times Book Review. He tends to paint European leaders starkly, as either friends of the Jews or supporters of Arab partisans; still, maintained Schmemann, he "does not allow his love of Israel to cloud his judgement. He offsets his feelings with ample objective evidence, and is scrupulously fair in explaining the full range of factors shaping European attitudes toward Israel." The reviewer concluded, "What Sachar achieves in collating the history of European-Israeli relations and in keeping it clear, compelling and accessible is a remarkable feat. It is a critical background for any appreciation of the Jewish state."

In Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, Sachar traces the history of the Spanish Jews, who flourished during the centuries of Roman rule before the time of Christ. After the conversion to Christianity of the Emperor Constantine, they suffered persecution, even subjected to massacres in Spain. Even those Jews who converted to Christianity were regarded with suspicion, and their sincerity, or lack of it, was one of the issues leading to the infamous Spanish Inquisition. Sachar's book reveals the history of the Spanish Jews and what became of them after they were expelled from Spain in 1492. It is "a feast for students of Jewish culture and history," advised a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the Aftermath of the Great War looks at the relationship between Jews and Gentiles following World War I. While the horrors perpetrated upon the Jews by the Nazis during World War II are notorious, the crimes committed against the Jews by earlier Europeans and Russians are less well known. During the Russian Civil War, Jews were routinely burned, buried alive, drowned, and otherwise tortured and mutilated. Still, there were positive aspects to the era between wars, and Sachar avoids depicting "Jews as merely passive victims, regarding them as active participants in the tumultuous events of the interwar years," reported a Library Journal reviewer. Sachar "has a keen eye for historical detail, and a fine sense of narrative," found a Publishers Weekly reviewer. The reviewer also remarked that Sachar "weaves a broad tapestry of social, economic and political conditions that is at times dizzying in its complexity and breadth."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

AB Bookman's Weekly, April 25, 1988, review of The Course of Modern Jewish History, p. 1731.

America, March 5, 1983, review of Egypt and Israel, p. 171; December 28, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 469.

American Historical Review, June, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 934.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, July, 1973; September, 1987, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 212.

Booklist, April 1, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 1097; April 1, 1987, review of A History of Israel, p. 1174; March 15, 1992, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 1314; February 15, 1996, review of A History of Israel, p. 987; December 15, 1998, Jay Freeman, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, p. 711.

Bookwatch, April, 1999, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, p. 6.

Book World, May 26, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 4; May 31, 1987, review of A History of Israel, p. 10; May 17, 1992, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 1; December 11, 1994, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 4.

Choice, February, 1977; September, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 178; November, 1987, review of A History of Israel, p. 534; July, 1999, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, p. 1999.

Christian Century, August 14, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 745.

Commentary, February, 1977; December, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 68; August, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 45.

Contemporary Jewish World, p. 68; August, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 45.

Foreign Affairs, number 1, 1987, review of A History of Israel, p. 203; May, 1999, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, p. 148.

Guardian Weekly, July 5, 1992, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 20.

Historian, autumn, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 178.

History: Reviews of New Books, spring, 1988, review of A History of Israel, p. 134; spring, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 111.

Journal of American History, June, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 236.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, autumn, 1994, Robert I. Weiner, review of A History of Jews in America, pp. 335-336.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 327; March 15, 1992, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 379; September 1, 1994, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 1200; November 15, 1998, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, p. 1656; February 1, 2002, review of Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the Aftermath of the Great War, p. 168.

Library Journal, March 15, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 69; May 1, 1987, review of A History of Israel, p. 67; July, 1992, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 103; November 15, 1994, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 77; February 15, 2002, Frederic Krome, review of Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the Aftermath of the Great War, p. 162.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, November 2, 1980; June 9, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 1; May 31, 1992, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 11.

Nation, January 26, 1970.

National Review, December 5, 1994, Ben C. Toledano, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 75.

New Republic, April 12, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 29.

New York Herald Tribune Book Review, May 25, 1958.

New York Times, April 16, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 25.

New York Times Book Review, November 23, 1969; January 21, 1973; August 7, 1977; April 21, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 17; July 26, 1987, review of A History of Israel, p. 13; February 13, 1994, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 32; November 27, 1994, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 18; May 2, 1999, Serge Schmemann, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, p. 31.

Publishers Weekly, March 1, 1985, review of Diaspora: An Inquiry into the Contemporary Jewish World, p. 75; May 1, 1987, review of A History of Israel, p. 60; March 16, 1992, review of A History of Jews in America, p. 68; September 5, 1994, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 103; September 11, 1995, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 82; December 7, 1998, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History, p. 41; March 11, 2002, review of Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the Aftermath of the Great War, p. 67.

Reference & Research Book News, May, 1999, review of Israel and Europe: An Appraisal, p. 35.

Reference Services Review, fall, 1984, review of A History of Israel, p. 28.

Reviews in American History, June, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 190.

Saturday Review, August 2, 1958.

Springfield Republican, July 20, 1958.

Times Literary Supplement, June 4, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 10.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), February 7, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 7; February 13, 1994, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 8.

Virginia Quarterly Review, autumn, 1992, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 116; autumn, 1993, review of A History of the Jews in America, p. 749; spring, 1995, review of Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered, p. 45.

Washington Post Book World, January 9, 1977.

West Coast Review of Books, January, 1977.

Wilson Quarterly, winter, 1983, review of A History of Israel and Aliyah: The Peoples of Israel, p. 87.