<p>"The great Jew­ish his­to­ri­an Salo Baron defined the ​“lachry­mose school of Jew­ish his­to­ri­og­ra­phy,” that long litany of suf­fer­ing and per­se­cu­tion that for many defines Jew­ish life and his­to­ry. Andy Markovits’s mem­oir is the anec­dote to that school: a sun­ny, opti­mistic, and uplift­ing read. It doesn’t gloss over the sad­ness of post-War Europe, but it shows how that lost world could pro­duce a vital future and how a state­less, root­less per­son could nonethe­less turn that con­di­tion into a ful­filled life." https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/the-passport-as-home-comfort-in-rootlessness</p>

- Martin Green, Jewish Book Council

<p>"Perhaps the best that one may hope for sometimes is the richness of a life lived without such a destructive set of emotions, the worth of work that is grounded on logic and evidence, the support of people (as the author generously attests to in this memoir) from whom one can learn and with whom one can share insight and understanding. It is this record and these experiences, perhaps above all, which shine brightest out of this evocative memoir."</p>

- Philip Spencer, Fathom

A Scholar's Quest for Home and Identity

Experience the remarkable story of a Romanian-born, Hungarian-speaking Jewish professor. From Vienna to Columbia and Harvard, he navigates a life marked by rootlessness, seeking comfort and purpose. His journey unfolds against the backdrop of five decades, two continents, and significant political and cultural changes.

As we follow his pursuit of a home, we gain insight into the critical developments of post-1945 Europe and America. Markovits's emigration experiences, first from Romania to Vienna and later from Vienna to New York, shed light on the challenges he faced.

His journey offers a panoramic view of the forces shaping the latter half of the 20th century. Despite America's flaws, he finds it a beacon of academic excellence, intellectual openness, cultural diversity, and religious tolerance—qualities that Europe lacked.


Explore the complexities of identity, culture, and the universal search for belonging in this captivating narrative.

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This narrative follows the journey of a Romanian-born, Hungarian-speaking Jewish professor who emigrates from Vienna to Columbia and Harvard, navigating a life of rootlessness across five decades, two continents, and significant political and cultural changes while seeking comfort and purpose against the backdrop of post-1945 Europe and America.
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Foreword
Michael Ignatieff
Preface and Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Origins: The Virtues of Rootlessness

Chapter 2. A Paean to Tante Trude (Who Might or Might Not Have Been a Nazi)

Chapter 3. Four Friendships: Discovering America in Vienna

Chapter 4. Daphne Scheer, Real Madrid and Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan): The Personal Meets the Political

Chapter 5. The Rolling Stones Play Vienna (Resulting in Bodily Harm to the City’s Jews)

Chapter 6. Arrival in New York: The Dream Meets the Reality

Chapter 7. Columbia 1968: How the World – and Andy – Changed in a Single Year

Chapter 8. Kiki: Big Politics and Little Andy

Chapter 9. The Grateful Dead: My American Family

Chapter 10. Harvard’s Center for European Studies: The Interloper Finds a Home

Chapter 11. Dogs: The Rescuer Rescues Himself

Chapter 12. Germany: Admiration for the Bundesrepublik, Discomfort with Deutschland

Epilogue

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“Andy Markovits reminds us of all that is best about America. As a Jewish emigre from Central Europe, he embodies its better traditions while rejecting its problematic ones. He layers his past into a rich pastry of multiple and diverse ingredients drawn from his U.S. education, his influential scholarship into European worker politics, his innovative research on and love of sports, his commitment to dog rescues, and his general enthusiasm about the world. We hear both the Grateful Dead and the great operas as the background music to this beautifully written adventure of discovery of people and ideas.”

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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9789633864210
Publisert
2021-08-19
Utgiver
Central European University Press; Central European University Press
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
328

Om bidragsyterne

Andrei S. Markovits is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies; Professor of Political Science; Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Professor of Sociology at the The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Michael Ignatieff served as President and Rector of CEU between 2016 and 2021. He now is a professor in CEU's history department. Ignatieff comes to CEU after serving as Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.