In the immediate aftermath of World War II, a judicial case involving the custody of two Jewish orphans mushroomed into a major crisis of Jewish-Christian relations in France. A New York Times journalist called this affair «the worst religious storm of post-war France. The Finaly Affair (1945-1953), which is best understood in the context of post-Vichy anti-Semitism, came about when Catholic fundamentalist beliefs came into conflict with France's republican principles. This affair polarized the French nation and was transformed into a national crisis by the explosive power of the French press. It had lasting consequences for interfaith relations in France and for the French Jewish community. In the Shadow of Vichy captures this astonishing story of how the Church's kidnapping of two Jewish children just after World War II helped to hasten the revolutionary changes of Vatican II.

Genevieve Straus: a Parisian Life is the first biography in English of Genevieve Straus (1849-1926), a Parisian salon hostess and political activist. Joyce Block Lazarus explores myths surrounding Straus and offers an account of her life and accomplishments. Making use of historical materials, including previously unpublished letters, Lazarus shows that Straus was a female intellectual during an era when women were non-citizens. Scholars have well documented the Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906), but have overlooked archival documents which spotlight Straus's role as a political activist in the affair. In Genevieve Straus: a Parisian Life, Lazarus highlights Straus's thirty-four-year friendship with Marcel Proust and examines her influence on Proust's novel, In Search of Lost Time, finding echoes of Straus and her family in his masterpiece.