No single American could personify what Henry Luce called the American Century but Isaac Stern came closer than most. Despite modest origins as the child of Jewish immigrants in San Francisco, by the early 1940s talent and practice had brought him a Carnegie Hall debut, critical acclaim and the attention of the legendary Sol Hurok. As America came of age, so too did Stern. He would go on to make music on five continents, records in formats from 78 rpm to digital, friends as different as Frank Sinatra and Isaiah Berlin, and policy from Carnegie Hall to Washington, Jerusalem and Shanghai. He also loaned instruments to young players, brokered gigs for Soviet emigres and replied in person to inquiring fans. Wide-ranging yet intimate, The Lives of Isaac Stern is a portrait of an artist and musical statesman who left a profound musical and cultural legacy.

From Truman to Bush, the United States has assured Israel's existence, while providing billions in military and economic support, but no US president has ever submitted a formal treaty of alliance to the Senate. Schoenbaum's book traces Israeli-American relations from their roots in both the American and Jewish experiences to the current peace process. It also examines the relationship in the perspective of two world wars, the Cold War, the Gulf War, European colonialism and Middle Eastern nationalisms, global policy, and domestic policies in both countries.

In fact, the gap between the ideology of the Reich and its actual character was enormous. But under the spell of the mirage, the will to resist was undermined by an accelerating process of social disintegration.