An Unfortunate Coincidence Jews, Jewishness, and English Law

"Didi Hermans brilliant and original An Unfortunate Coincidence: Jews, Jewishness, and English Law breaks new ground in the history of the representation as well as the social status of the Jews in the modern world. Examining the case law in English civil (rather than criminal) law, Herman spins a complex tale of how 19th century ideas of the Jews as a race come to be embedded in English common law. While not surprising in the context of the late 19th century, where the anxiety about Jewish difference was universally defined within the parameters of scientific racism, what is staggering about Hermans account is how these views continue, quite unreflected, into the 21st century and into the realm of civil rights. This is a major book, not only on British Jewry and its history, but also in the history of law." - Sander L. Gilman, Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and Sciences; Professor of Psychiatry, Emory University

"This subtle account, providing sophisticated but clearly presented analysis, will be of deep interest to anyone interested in the place of religious, ethnic, and racial minorities in modern Britain." - Professor Tony Kushner, Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish relations, University of Southampton

"Professor Herman has written a path-breaking account of the complex relationship between English law and the processes of racialization...This book is highly informative, theoretically sophisticated, and written in a lucid and compelling style. It is essential reading for anyone wanting to make sense of links between ethnicity, 'race' and religion...within post-war English case law." - Professor Bryan Cheyette, University of Reading

"Didi Herman develops her account of the treatment of "the Jew" in English judicial discourse through an intelligent, critical and thought provoking analysis of legal and political sources" - Maleiha Malik, Professor in Law, King's College London

"Didi Herman has written a brilliant, insightful, and extremely nuanced book...In this physically slim, but intellectually jam-packed volume, she details in a careful, contextually sensitive fashion, the twisted and often complex paths followed by English courts in their various encounters with 'Jews'. Her analysis highlights, underlines, and deconstructs the ways in which the cases she studies, in a variety of fields, from trusts, to criminal law, from family and child welfare cases, to anti-discrimination claims, have created, defined, and often essentialized Jews and Jewishness throughout the twentieth century and into our current epoch." - David Fraser, University of Nottingham, Journal of Law and Society