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Featured Collections
Broadway is more than entertainment. It's a uniquely American art form. Explore the lives of the composers, performers, and cultural icons whose work changed theater, music, and popular culture, one unforgettable production at a time.
Available while supplies last.
Irving Berlin: New York Genius
By James Kaplan
“Irresistible” —Todd S. Purdum
A fast-moving, musically astute portrait of arguably the greatest composer of American popular music
Leonard Bernstein: An American Musician
By Allen Shawn
“A page-turner" —Symphony Magazine
A fresh appreciation of the great musical figure that gives him his due as composer as well as conductor
Arthur Miller: American Witness
By John Lahr
“A great introduction to a giant of American letters” —Publishers Weekly
A great theater critic brings twentieth-century playwright Arthur Miller’s dramatic story to life with bold and revealing new insights
Jerome Robbins: A Life in Dance
By Wendy Lesser
“A compact and incisive portrait” —Kirkus Reviews
A lively and inspired biography celebrating the centennial of this master choreographer, dancer, and stage director
Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn’t Easy
By Daniel Okrent
“Stellar” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A revelatory look at the complex inner world of one of the twentieth century’s most beloved theatrical composers
Barbra Streisand: Redefining Femininity, Beauty, and Power
By Neal Gabler
“Fascinating and insightful” —The Wall Street Journal
An enthralling appreciation of the monumentally gifted popular artist and cultural icon who challenged Hollywood’s standards of beauty and glamour
Explore the origins of the modern State of Israel with Jewish Lives. This unique 8-book custom set is available while supplies last.
Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel
By Anita Shapira
“A beautiful portrayal” —Shimon Peres, President of Israel (2007-2014)
An insightful study of the inner life of the Zionist leader responsible for the creation of the state of Israel
Hayim Nahman Bialik: Poet of Hebrew
By Avner Holtzman
“A remarkable story, superbly told” —David G. Roskies, JTS
A moving inquiry into the dramatic life, epic success, and ultimate tragedy of the great Hebrew poet
Moshe Dayan: Israel’s Controversial Hero
By Mordechai Bar-On
“Refreshing. Highly thoughtful.”—Jerusalem Report
Instantly recognizable with his iconic eye patch, Moshe Dayan (1915–1981) was one of Israel's most charismatic—and controversial—personalities
Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader
By Derek Penslar
“Excellent” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
A masterful new biography of Theodor Herzl by an eminent historian of Zionism
Jabotinsky: A Life
By Hillel Halkin
“Beautifully written” —New York Review of Books
An insightful new biography of the most controversial and perhaps most fervent of all Zionist political figures
Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution
By Yehudah Mirsky
“Learned, luminous and uncannily timely” —Jewish Review of Books
Rav Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935) was one of the most influential—and controversial—rabbis of the twentieth century
Golda Meir: Israel’s Matriarch
By Deborah E. Lipstadt
“Always thoughtful” —Kirkus Review
A balanced biography of Golda Meir, who was both adored and abhorred, from award-winning author Deborah E. Lipstadt
Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier, Leader, Statesman
By Itamar Rabinovich
“A thoughtful and extraordinarily comprehensive account of a significant leader” —Henry A. Kissinger
An insider’s perspective on the life and influence of Israel’s first native-born prime minister, his bold peace initiatives, and his tragic assassination
The Limited Edition Biblical Greats Collection is the perfect addition to any bookshelf. The unique, custom set is available while supplies last.
Explore the lives of the greatest figures of the Bible like never before.
Jacob: Unexpected Patriarch
By Yair Zakovitch
“Eloquently provocative” —Choice
A powerful hero of the Bible, Jacob is also one of its most complex figures
Moses: A Human Life
By Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
“A rich, erudite study” —Kirkus Review, Starred Review
An unprecedented portrait of Moses's inner world and perplexing character, by a distinguished biblical scholar
David: The Divided Heart
By David Wolpe
“Vibrant and nuanced” —The Jewish Week
A reexamination of the biblical David, legendary warrior, poet, and king, by one of America’s most respected rabbis
Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom
By Steven Weitzman
“Engrossing, elegant, and erudite” —The Jewish Daily Forward
Esteemed biblical scholar Steven Weitzman reintroduces readers to Solomon's story and its surprising influence in shaping Western culture
Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation
By Daniel C. Matt
“Masterful” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
The story of the prophet Elijah’s transformation from fierce zealot to compassionate hero and cherished figure in Jewish tradition
Ruth: A Migrant’s Tale
By Ilana Pardes
“Excellent” —Steven Weitzman, author of The Origin of the Jews
A wide-ranging exploration of the story of Ruth, a foreigner who became the founding mother of the Davidic dynasty
Featured Titles
By Daniel Okrent
Published March 17, 2026
320 pages
“Stellar” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A revelatory look at the complex inner world of one of the twentieth century’s most beloved theatrical composers
Stephen Sondheim (1930–2021) was a towering figure in American musical theater. Celebrated for such iconic Broadway shows as Company, Sweeney Todd, and Into the Woods, his accolades include eight Tony Awards, multiple Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Pulitzer Prize. In this intimate biography, Daniel Okrent follows Sondheim through the tumult of his upbringing and his parents’ divorce, his life-changing relationship with Oscar Hammerstein II and subsequent immersion in musical theater, and his rise to fame as both a lyricist and composer.
Okrent shines new light on Sondheim’s complicated emotional life, wavering self-confidence, and alcoholism, drawing on the artist’s intimate correspondence with such notable figures as Hal Prince, Leonard Bernstein, and Arthur Laurents; exclusive interviews with his close friends and collaborators, including James Lapine and John Weidman; and Sondheim’s own oral history, which remained closed until his death. He also reveals a previously unknown (and crucial) aspect of the infamous letter from Sondheim’s mother that made him believe she regretted his birth. As Okrent explores the ways Sondheim’s music and lyrics express the inner man, he shows us a life that was defined by two parallel arcs: the movement from alienation to connection, and from ambivalence to resolution.
By Deborah E. Lipstadt
Published August 15, 2023
288 pages
“Thoughtful” —Kirkus Review
A balanced biography of Golda Meir, who was both adored and abhorred, from award-winning author Deborah E. Lipstadt
Golda Meir (1898–1978) was the first and only woman to serve as prime minister of Israel. She was born in Kiev into a childhood of poverty, hunger, and antisemitism. When she was five, her father left to find work in America, and a year later the family settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a teenager she became devoted to Labor Zionism, giving street-corner speeches, and her family’s home became a destination for Zionist emissaries. Her love for Labor Zionism was so fervent that her boyfriend, Morris Meyerson (her future husband), was often in competition with her dedication to the cause.
Zionism prevailed. In 1921, Golda left America for Palestine with Morris and her sister Sheyna. Though the reality of living in Palestine was far from the dream of Zionism, Meir settled on the kibbutz Merhavia and was swiftly appointed to the Histadrut (the General Organization of Hebrew Workers in Palestine). As an ally of the Zionist David Ben-Gurion, Meir played an important role in the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine; proved an almost singular ability to connect and fundraise with diaspora Jewry, particularly Americans; and served in three pivotal positions following Israel’s independence: labor secretary of the newly formed state, foreign minister, and Israel’s fourth prime minister.
In tracing the life of Golda Meir, acclaimed author Deborah E. Lipstadt explores the history of the Yishuv and Jewish state from the 1920s through the 1973 Yom Kippur War, all while highlighting the contradictions and complexities of a person who was only the third woman to serve as a head of state in the twentieth century.
By Paul Mendes-Flohr
Published March 26, 2019
440 pages
“Exquisite” —Amir Eshel
The first major biography in English in over thirty years of the seminal modern Jewish thinker Martin Buber
An authority on the twentieth-century philosopher Martin Buber (1878–1965), Paul Mendes-Flohr offers the first major biography in English in thirty years of this seminal modern Jewish thinker. Organized around several key moments—such as his sudden abandonment by his mother when he was a child of three—Mendes-Flohr shows how this foundational trauma left an enduring mark on Buber’s inner life, attuning him to the fragility of human relations and the need to nurture them with what he would call a “dialogical attentiveness.”
Buber’s philosophical and theological writings, most famously I and Thou, made significant contributions to religious and Jewish thought, philosophical anthropology, biblical studies, political theory, and Zionism. In this accessible new biography, Mendes-Flohr situates Buber’s life and legacy in the intellectual and cultural life of German Jewry as well as in the broader European intellectual life of the first half of the twentieth century.
About Jewish Lives
A partnership of Yale University Press and the Leon D. Black Foundation, Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity.
Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.
Ileene Smith is Editorial Director. Anita Shapira and Steven J. Zipperstein are Series Editors. Rebecca Keys is Managing Director.