On Antisemitism: A Word in History

What do we mean when we talk about antisemitism? A thoughtful, vital new intervention from the award-winning historian

'An immense contribution... In tracing the evolving meaning of ‘antisemitism,’ [Mazower] demonstrates persuasively how we might turn it from a weapon back into a word... Rigorous and lucid' - Lily Meyer, The New Republic'

For most of history, antisemitism has been understood as a menace from Europe’s political Right, the province of blood-and-soil ethno-nativists who built on Christendom’s long-standing suspicion of its Jewish population and infused it with racist pseudo-science. Such threats culminated in the nightmare of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

The landscape is very different now, as Mark Mazower argues in this piercingly brilliant book. More than four-fifths of the world’s Jews now live in Israel and the United States, with the former’s military dominance of its region guaranteed by the latter while the loudest voices decrying antisemitism see it coming from the Left not the Right.

Mazower clearly and carefully shows us how we got here, seeking to illuminate rather than blame. Very few words have the punch of ‘antisemitism’ and yet no term is more liable to be misunderstood in ways affecting free speech and foreign policy alike. On Antisemitism is a vitally important attempt to draw a line that must be drawn.

Review

Mazower has written a stunner of a book: informed, questioning, probing, thought-provoking, and highly readable ― Jacobin

A rigorous account... Mazower’s meticulous deep dive reveals how ideological war is waged on the semantic level. The result is an elegant and illuminating glimpse of how politics shapes language itself ― Publisher's Weekly

Clear, comprehensive and nuanced... A book that can contribute to honest discussions that are
desperately needed in a new age of racism, war and genocide... this book is a welcome attempt to offer some clarity

-- Dr Brian Hanley ― Irish Times

An immense contribution... In tracing the evolving meaning of ‘antisemitism,’ [Mazower] demonstrates persuasively how we might turn it from a weapon back into a word... Rigorous and lucid -- Lily Meyer ― The New Republic

Mazower’s book contains many distinctions – subtle twists of the lens that bring different shades of personal and ideological animus into focus... For Mazower to provide any respite of clarity on a topic befogged in rage and confusion is achievement enough -- Rafael Behr ― The Guardian

One of the many virtues of Mazower’s excellent and timely book is his effort to restore historical context to a word that has become a generic term of condemnation... In this lucid survey, Mazower shows that the history of anti-Jewish sentiment is a story of varied accusations, hatreds, and fears―as entangled with the rise of modernity as it is with our present politics -- The Best Books of 2025 So Far ― New Yorker

Excellent and timely -- Ian Buruma ― The New Yorker

An illuminating new book... On Antisemitism does not seek to define the concept but more usefully tracks how its meaning has changed over time -- Kenan Malik ― The Observer

About the Author

Mark Mazower is Ira D. Wallach Professor of History at Columbia University, where he directs the Institute for Ideas and Imagination. His previous books include Inside Hitler's Greece, Dark Continent, The Balkans and Salonica, City of Ghosts. His most recent book, The Greek Revolution, won the Duff Cooper Prize.