Steven R. Weisman

"An important beginning to understanding the truth over myth about Judaism in American history" (New York Journal of Books), Steven R. Weisman tells the dramatic story of the personalities that fought each other and shaped this ancient religion in America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The struggles that produced a redefinition of Judaism illuminate the larger American experience and the efforts by all Americans to reconcile their faith with modern demands. The narrative begins with the arrival of the first Jews in New Amsterdam and plays out over the nineteenth century as a massive immigration takes place at the dawn of the twentieth century. First there was the practical matter of earning a living. Many immigrants had to work on the Sabbath or traveled as peddlers to places where they could not keep kosher. Doctrine was put aside or adjusted. To take their places as equals, American Jews rejected their identity as a separate nation within America. Judaism became an American religion. These profound changes did not come without argument. Steven R. Weisman's "lucid and entertaining" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) The Chosen Wars tells the stories of the colorful rabbis and activists--including Isaac Mayer Wise, Mordecai Noah, David Einhorn, Rebecca Gratz, and Isaac Lesser--who defined American Judaism and whose disputes divided it into the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox branches that remain today. "Only rarely does an author succeed in writing a book that reframes how we perceive our own history. The Chosen Wars is...fascinating and provocative" (Jewish Journal).

The Chosen Wars tells the dramatic story of how Judaism redefined itself in America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries-the personalities that fought each other and shaped its evolution and, importantly, the force of the American dynamic that prevailed over an ancient religion.The struggles that led to a radical redefinition of Judaism illuminate the larger American experience. The transformation of the religion and culture of Judaism is a striking example. The story begins with the arrival of the first Jews in New Amsterdam and stretches the length of the nineteenth century as massive immigration take place and into the twentieth.First there was the practical matter of earning a living. Many immigrants traveled as peddlers from community to community where there were no kosher butchers. Doctrine was put aside. Then, determined to take their places as equals in the young nation, American Jews rejected identity as a separate nation and embraced a secular America. Judaism became an American religion.The changes did not come without argument, and Weisman tells the stories of the colorful rabbis and activists, including women, who would ultimately define American Judaism, and its divisions of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox which remain today: Rabbi Isaac Wise; Mordecai Manuel Noah; Moses Mendelssohn; Rebecca Gratz; and Isaac Leeser are some of the major figures.The Chosen Wars is the important story of how Judaism enhanced America, and how America inspired Judaism.

A major work of history, "The Great Tax Wars" is the gripping, epic story of six decades of often violent conflict over wealth, power, and fairness that gave America the income tax. It's the story of a tumultuous period of radical change, from Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War through the progressive era under Theodore Roosevelt and ending with Woodrow Wilson and World War I. During these years of upheaval, America was transformed from an agrarian society into a mighty industrial nation, great fortunes were amassed, farmers and workers rebelled, class war was narrowly averted, and America emerged as a global power. "The Great Tax Wars" features an extraordinary cast of characters, including the men who built the nation's industries and the politicians and reformers who battled them -- from J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie to Lincoln, T.R., Wilson, William Jennings Bryan, and Eugene Debs. From their ferocious battles emerged a more flexible definition of democracy, economic justice, and free enterprise largely framed by a more progressive tax system. In this groundbreaking book, Weisman shows how the ever controversial income tax transformed America and how today's debates about the tax echo those of the past.