The Lions Den, Susie Linfield
The Lions Den, Susie Linfield
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The Lions' Den
Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky

Author: Susie Linfield

Narrator: Kathe Mazur

Unabridged: 16 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/13/2019

Synopsis

A lively intellectual history that explores how prominent midcentury public intellectuals approached Zionism and then the State of Israel itself and its conflicts with the Arab worldCultural critic Susie Linfield investigates how eight prominent twentieth-century intellectuals struggled with the philosophy of Zionism, and then with Israel and its conflicts with the Arab world. Constructed as a series of interrelated portraits that combine the personal and the political, the book includes philosophers, historians, journalists, and activists such as Hannah Arendt, Arthur Koestler, I. F. Stone, and Noam Chomsky. In their engagement with Zionism, these influential thinkers also wrestled with the twentieth century’s most crucial political dilemmas: socialism, nationalism, democracy, colonialism, terrorism, and anti‑Semitism. In other words, in probing Zionism, they confronted the very nature of modernity and the often catastrophic histories of our time. By examining these leftist intellectuals, Linfield also seeks to understand how the contemporary Left has become focused on anti‑Zionism and how Israel itself has moved rightward.

About Susie Linfield

Susie Linfield has written about culture and politics for a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times, the Nation, Dissent, and the New Republic. She teaches cultural journalism at New York University and was formerly an editor at the Washington Post and the Village Voice. Her previous book, The Cruel Radiance: Photography and Political Violence, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

About Kathe Mazur

Kathe Mazur has narrated many audiobooks, winning the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2014, being named a finalist for the Audie Award in 2013 and 2015, and winning several AudioFile Earphones Awards. As an actress, she can be seen as DDA Hobbs on The Closer and in the upcoming Major Crimes. She has worked extensively in film, theater, and television, including appearances on Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, House, Brothers and Sisters, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, ER, Monk, and many others.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dr. on November 10, 2019

Susie Linfield was at a pleasant, tony New York dinner party until she realized she was in the lion's den as the only Zionist present willing to speak up. The experience inspired her book, The Lions' Den: Zionism from the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky (Yale University Press, 2019). The boo......more

Goodreads review by Shane on August 16, 2020

I’m working on a longer review for Full Stop, but overall it is well written and argued, even though I generally disagree with the authors position on the conflict. The people covered are almost completely unknown and I wonder if there is actually an audience for this book. More than that, you learn......more

Goodreads review by Joe on September 01, 2024

I wanted to get an idea of how Jewish Leftists have responded to right-wing Zionism. After all, there have been many prominent Jewish Leftists. Karl Marx was a Jew. What has been the Jewish Left's reaction to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and establishment of the exclusionary Jewish ethnocracy?......more

Goodreads review by Eva on August 24, 2024

It was a really interesting read, but some chapters are much stronger then others. Linfield relies too heavily on intimate familiarity with the writings of the figures she analyzes (which given the scope covered is unrealistic), but the analysis is interesting enough to sustain itself. Overall, I th......more

Goodreads review by Yossi on October 14, 2019

Cultural theorist and leftist Susie Linfield couldn’t have done a better job of analyzing the depths of the contemporary global left and its opinion of Israel. She does a great job recognizing the virtues and fallacies regarding the contemporary discourse about Zionism from that side of the politica......more

Quotes

“The Lions’ Den is a brilliantly incisive commentary on eight intellectuals who wrote about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Susie Linfield is herself the ninth intellectual in this book, with a strong and persuasive position of her own.” Michael Walzer, author of A Foreign Policy for the Left

“You don’t have to be enthralled by the Left, Judaism, or Zionism to enjoy this riveting book. Wherever you stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this is a must for devotees of fascinating, intriguing, exhilarating, and exciting debates.” Hussein Agha, coauthor of A Framework for a Palestinian National Security Doctrine

“Why have some of the brightest minds in the American and European Left been unable to understand Jewish nationalism? The Lions’ Den is a fascinating, uniquely incisive inquiry into the limits of the intellectual Left as it tries to deal with the harsh realities of our world.” Zeev Sternhell, author of The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State

“A significant contribution to contemporary political discourse.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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