Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

This beautifully written volume appears in Yale University Press's rightfully acclaimed "Jewish Lives" series. Manguel is a renowned scholar, and he drew on his lifetime of reading and writing to present an urbane and humane introduction to the life and writings of 12th-century Jewish sage Maimonides (1135-1204). Manguel quickly traverses the philosopher's displacements from his childhhood home (he was born in Cordoba in what is now Spain) before focusing in on Maimonides's life as a doctor, a philosopher, an ethicist, a Torah scholar, and a biblical commentator during his time in Egypt. Manguel's scholarship and careful reflection are evident throughout and do not interfere with the book's literary artistry. The final third of the book is devoted to a reading of Maimonides's The Guide of the Perplexed (completed in 1190) and its reception by intellectuals within and beyond Jewish synagogues. In the present era of secularization of Jewish youth, increased anti-Semitism, and scholarly opposition between faith and reason, it is ironic that a medieval Jewish thinker speaks now with greater relevance than ever.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, general readers.