This book is a pleasant surprise. Shapiro uses the fashionable device of a book of rankings to present short biographies of 100 influential Jewish men and women. His selections for inclusion are all sound and at times surprising, running from Moses, ranked at number one, through Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, at number 100. The work's primary strength lies in Shapiro's well-written entries, which capture the importance of the subject in an engaging, informative, and entertaining fashion. One can argue over who is ranked where or whether a particular individual should have been included, but these cavils do not diminish the book's overall value. This is not, and was not intended to be, a formal, scholarly reference work. Rather, it is an interesting and enjoyable overview of talented individuals designed to appeal to general readers and young adults. Recommended for all public and school libraries.
- Stephen L. Hupp, Capital Univ. Lib., Columbus, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Each man or woman on Shapiro's list of the most influential Jews of all time had a special influence on humankind, changing the way we live and think. A few touched the souls and minds of Jews only but are important to the world because of their defining presence on Jewish identity. Starting with Moses, the prophet and lawgiver who led the Israelites out of Egypt, Shapiro ranks and examines them in their order of influence. Second is Jesus, followed by physicist Albert Einstein; then Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and Abraham, the founding patriarch of the Jews. The list includes such diverse figures as composer Gustav Mahler; Maimonides, the greatest Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages; Rashi, the world's foremost Talmudist; artist Mark Rothko; and actress Sarah Bernhardt. In compiling any list, the author risks being criticized for what the reader believes to be mistaken omissions or inclusions. Despite Shapiro's engaging and cogent list, the omission of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel is incomprehensible. Unfathomable, too, is the omission of Nobel Prize winners Isaac Bashevis Singer and Saul Bellow, as well as writer I. L. Peretz, one of the major personalities in modern Jewish history and the formative influence on modern Yiddish literature. George Cohen

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