Weaving in fifty years of experience with Israel, Bernard-Henri Lévy analyzes global responses to October 7, the new virulent waves of the oldest hatred in the world: anti-Semitism, why Israel is waging this existential war against barbarism alone, and what’s at stake for Israel and the world. Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Israel Alone is a passionate and outraged cri-de-coeur, about the loneliness of Israel and the tragedy of October 7, starting with Lévy’s eyewitness account the day after the pogroms.

On October 8, 2023, Bernard-Henri Lévy flew to Israel to bear witness to the unprecedented invasion and massacre committed by Hamas. Israel Alone begins here and weaves in Lévy’s fifty years on the ground in Israel, from his first trip in 1967, his experiences writing on all the conflicts since, and his participation in various peace plans and contacts with all the Israeli leaders from Menachem Begin to Shimon Peres and from Ariel Sharon to Yitzak Shamir and Yitzak Rabin.

From his unique philosophical and humanist perspective, Lévy analyzes the ultimate evil unleashed on Israel on October 7 and delves into how the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia, radical Islamist groups, Turkey, and China have played roles and profited from this tragedy. The book addresses how October 7, though historic in scope, became, within weeks, a “detail” in the global consciousness amid a worldwide eruption of anti-Semitism, cloaked in anti-Zionism. Lévy deconstructs the arguments of those calling for a “cease-fire now” without the release of all hostages and of those who demand that October 7 be seen within a greater “context.” Lévy’s meditation on the soul of Zionism and Israel shows why this war is existential, not only for Israel but for the global West.

And yet, despite the urgency and critical nature of this war, Israel takes it on alone.

Lévy analyzes, today, why this is so and why Israel’s solitude is greater than ever.

"A Meteor of Intelligent Substance" "Something was Missing in our Culture, and Here It Is" "Liberties is THE place to be." Liberties, a journal of Culture and Politics, is essential reading for those engaged in the cultural and political issues and causes of our time. Liberties features serious, independent, stylish, and controversial essays by significant writers and leaders throughout the world; new poetry; and, introduces the next generation of writers and voices to inspire and impact the intellectual and creative lifeblood of today's culture and politics. In this issue of Liberties: Laura Kipnis on Genders Without Fear; Dorian Abbot's call to arms - Science to Politics: Drop Dead; Bernard Henri-Levy on What is Reading?; Bruce D. Jones on today's reality of Taiwan, China, America; David Greenberg examines The War on Objectivity; Helen Vendler on Art vs. Stereotypes through the work of Marianne Moore; Ingrid Rowland captures Thucydides on our Conflicts; David A. Bell exposes the Greatest Enemy of Democracy in France; Robert Cooper reports on Myanmar, Atrocity in the Garden of Eden; Steven M. Nadler on Bans and Excommunications, Then and Now; Morten Hoi Jensen on the State of Literary Biography; Clara Collier on Women with Whips - Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck; Celeste Marcus on Unknown Heroes of Modern Art; Leon Wieseltier reveals Christianism in Modern Politics; and, new poetry from Durs Grunbein, Nathaniel Mackey, and Haris Vlavianos.

An unflinching look at the most urgent humanitarian crises around the globe, from one of the world's most daring philosopher-reporters "Call[s] on people not just to see the world, but to be moved and interested by what they find there, and to do something about it."-Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic "Fierce and elegant, Levy's musings will be of profound interest to any reader of modern continental philosophy."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review Over the past fifty years, renowned public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy has reported extensively on human rights abuses around the world. This new book follows the intrepid Levy into eight international hotspots-Nigeria; Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan; Ukraine; Somalia; Bangladesh; Lesbos, Greece; Libya; and Afghanistan-that have escaped global attention or active response. In a deeply personal introduction, Levy recounts the intellectual journey that led him to advocacy, arguing that a truly humanist philosophy must necessarily lead to action in defense of the most vulnerable. In the second section, he reports on the eight investigative trips he undertook just before or during the coronavirus pandemic, from the massacred Christian villages in Nigeria to a dangerously fragile Afghanistan on the eve of the Taliban talks, from an anti-Semitic ambush in Libya to the overrun refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. Part manifesto, part missives from the field, this new book is a stirring rebuke to indifference and an exhortation to level our gaze at those most hidden from us.

An unflinching look at the most urgent humanitarian crises around the globe, from one of the world's most daring philosopher-reporters "Call[s] on people not just to see the world, but to be moved and interested by what they find there, and to do something about it."-Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic "Fierce and elegant, Levy's musings will be of profound interest to any reader of modern continental philosophy."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review Over the past fifty years, renowned public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy has reported extensively on human rights abuses around the world. This new book follows the intrepid Levy into eight international hotspots-Nigeria; Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan; Ukraine; Somalia; Bangladesh; Lesbos, Greece; Libya; and Afghanistan-that have escaped global attention or active response. In a deeply personal introduction, Levy recounts the intellectual journey that led him to advocacy, arguing that a truly humanist philosophy must necessarily lead to action in defense of the most vulnerable. In the second section, he reports on the eight investigative trips he undertook just before or during the coronavirus pandemic, from the massacred Christian villages in Nigeria to a dangerously fragile Afghanistan on the eve of the Taliban talks, from an anti-Semitic ambush in Libya to the overrun refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. Part manifesto, part missives from the field, this new book is a stirring rebuke to indifference and an exhortation to level our gaze at those most hidden from us.

A trenchant look at how the coronavirus reveals the dangerous fault lines of contemporary society As seen on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS: "A stirring alarm addressed to an unsettled world." (Kirkus Reviews) Forget the world that came before. The author of American Vertigo serves up an incisive look at how COVID-19 reveals the dangerous fault lines of contemporary society. With medical mysteries, rising death tolls, and conspiracy theories beamed minute by minute through the vast web universe, the coronavirus pandemic has irrevocably altered societies around the world. In this sharp essay, world-renowned philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy interrogates the many meanings and metaphors we have assigned to the pandemic-and what they tell us about ourselves. Drawing on the philosophical tradition from Plato and Aristotle to Lacan and Foucault, Levy asks uncomfortable questions about reality and mythology: he rejects the idea that the virus is a warning from nature, the inevitable result of global capitalism; he questions the heroic status of doctors, asking us to think critically about the loci of authority and power; he challenges the panicked polarization that dominates online discourse. Lucid, incisive, and always original, Levy takes a bird's-eye view of the most consequential historical event of our time and proposes a way to defend human society from threats to our collective future. A portion of the author's proceeds will be donated to Binc (The Book Industry Charitable Foundation).

This is a selection of essays and dispatches from a veteran observer of the development of Ukrainian culture and politics over the course of a decade. The volume deals with the issue of Ukrainian-Jewish relations and its historical legacy in the context of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. It charts the events that took place in Ukraine after the 2013-2014 Euromaidan Revolution and focuses on the place of Ukrainian Jewry within a quickly developing Ukrainian political nation.

The international publishing sensation is now available in the United States--two brilliant, controversial authors confront each other and their enemies in an unforgettable exchange of letters.
In one corner, Bernard-Henri Levy, creator of the classic "Barbarism with a Human Face, " dismissed by the media as a wealthy, self-promoting, arrogant do-gooder. In the other, Michel Houellebecq, bestselling author of "The Elementary Particles, " widely derided as a sex-obsessed racist and misogynist. What began as a secret correspondence between bitter enemies evolved into a remarkable joint personal meditation by France's premier literary and political live wires. An instant international bestseller, "Public Enemies" has now been translated into English for all lovers of superb insights, scandalous opinions, and iconoclastic ideas.
In wicked, wide-ranging, and freewheeling letters, the two self-described "whipping boys" debate whether they crave disgrace or secretly have an insane desire to please. Levy extols heroism in the face of tyranny; Houellebecq sees himself as one who would "fight little and badly." Levy says "life does not 'live'" unless he can write; Houellebecq bemoans work as leaving him in such "a state of nervous exhaustion that it takes several bottles of alcohol to get out." There are also touching and intimate exchanges on the existence of God and about their own families.
Dazzling, delightful, and provocative, "Public Enemies" is a death match between literary lions, remarkable men who find common ground, confident that, in the end (as Levy puts it), "it is we who will come out on top."

What does it mean to be an American, and what can America be today?To answer these questions, celebrated philosopher and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy spent a year traveling throughout the country in the footsteps of another great Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, whose Democracy in America remains the most influential book ever written about our country.
The result isAmerican Vertigo, a fascinating, wholly fresh look at a country we sometimes only think we know. From Rikers Island to Chicago mega-churches, from Muslim communities in Detroit to an Amish enclave in Iowa, Levy investigates issues at the heart of our democracy: the special nature of American patriotism, the coexistence of freedom and religion (including the religion of baseball), the prison system, the "return of ideology" and the health of our political institutions, and much more. He revisits and updates Tocqueville's most important beliefs, such as the dangers posed by "the tyranny of the majority," explores what Europe and America have to learn from each other, and interprets what he sees with a novelist's eye and a philosopher's depth.
Through powerful interview-based portraits across the spectrum of the American people, from prison guards to clergymen, from Norman Mailer to Barack Obama, from Sharon Stone to Richard Holbrooke, Levy fills his book with a tapestry of American voices-some wise, some shocking. Both the grandeur and the hellish dimensions of American life are unflinchingly explored. And big themes emerge throughout, from the crucial choices America
faces today to the underlying reality that, unlike the "Old World," America remains the fulfillment of the world's desire to worship, earn, and live as one wishes-a place, despite all, where inclusion remains not just an ideal but an actual practice.
At a time when Americans are anxious about how the world perceives them and, indeed, keen to make sense of themselves, a brilliant and sympathetic foreign observer has arrived to help us begin a new conversation about the meaning of America.

"From the Hardcover edition."