The 250th birthday of our country is a little more than a week away. Such a momentous commemoration deserves notice. The United States, despite weathering significant challenges over the years, is one of the most enduring and successful attempts at democracy that humans have created. And Jews have been there since the beginning.

What follows is a sampling of books that look back at not only the totality of American Jewish history but also at specific time periods, people, and unique events.

Some of these items are available in our library; others (marked BCCLS) are available through the Bergen County Cooperative Library System to which many of you have access.

An excellent additional resource is The American Jewish Archives (www.americanjewisharchives). Founded in 1947 at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnatti, it is the largest free-standing repository of material about American Jews. Its publication, The American Jewish Journal, is available in a searchable database.

Further reading about the United States can be found in the 973 and Biography sections and by checking the online catalog which will lead you to many more items including books for children and young adults.

Books are in order by publication date to show how opinions may have changed and how different topics come to the forefront.

Remember, it’s people who both make history and interpret it.

Libo, Kenneth. We Lived There,Too.: in their own words and pictures-pioneer Jews and the westward movement of America, 1630-1930. (1984)

Gabler, Neil. An Empire of their own: how the Jews invented Hollywood. (1988)

Brodkin, Karen. How Jews Became White Folks: and what that says about race in America. (1998)

Porwancher, Andrew. The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton. (2001)(BCCLS)

Sarna, Jonathan with Pamela Nadell. Women and American judaism: historical perspectives. (2001) (BCCLS)

Diner, Hasia. The Jews of the United States, 1604-2000. (2004)

Sarna, Jonathan. American Judaism: a history. (2004)

Feiler, Bruce. America’s Prophet: Moses and the American story. (2009)

Gurock, Jeffrey. Orthodox Jews in America. (2009) (BCCLS)

Sarna, Jonathan. When General Grant Expelled the Jews. (2012)

Ashton, Dianne. Hanukkah in America. (2013) (BCCLS)

Goldman, Eric. The American Jewish Story through Cinema. (2013)

Manseau, Peter. One nation, Under God: a new American history. (2015)

Sarna, Jonathan. Lincoln and the Jews. (2015)

Rabin, Shari. Jews on the Frontier: religion and mobility in nineteenth century America (2017) (BCCLS)

Fermaglich, Kirsten. A Rosenberg by Any Other Name: a history of Jewish name changing in America. (2018) (BCCLS)

Haynes, Bruce. The soul of Judaism : Jews of African descent in America. (2018) (BCCLS)

Wertheimer, Jack. The New American Judaism: how Jews practice their religion today. (2018)

Weisman, Steven R. The Chosen Wars: how Judaism became an American religion. (2018)

Nadell, Pamela. America’s Jewish Women: a history from colonial times to today. (2019)

Leibman, Laura. The Art of the Jewish Family: a history of women in early New York in five objects (2020)

Jortner, Adam, A Promised Land: Jewish patriots, the American Revolution, and the birth of religious freedom. (2024)

Seligman, Scott. The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: immigrant housewives and the riots that shook New York. (2023) (BCCLS)

Kreitner, Richard. Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the fight to end slavery. (2025)

Porwancher, Andrew. American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt and the Jews. (2025) (BCCLS)

Rabin, Shari. The Jewish South: an American history. (2025) (BCCLS)