"[W]ith great care and clarity...Derek Penslar’s Zionism: An Emotional State, zero[es] in on those emotions, like love and fear, which are so seldom acknowledged for what they are but play an outsize role in shaping politics." - Robert Zaretsky (The Atlantic) "What's appealing about Penslar's book is his search for less polemical ways to address Zionism and colonialism . . . . This is achieved with nuance, balance and elegance of expression, not to mention impressive academic rigor. In concise, pithy, and sensible prose Penslar crafts a cogent and revealing account of how Zionism and anti-Zionism inflame powerful emotions that are characteristic in debates about nationalism in the modern world. A work of strenuous and intelligent exegesis."
- Alan Wald (Against the Current) "Penslar has many insightful things to say about the complex tangle of beliefs and feelings that underlie the Jewish determination to return to the Promised Land, the support for it around the world, and the resistance to it, especially in the Middle East." (Jewish Review of Books) "Penslar breaks new ground by incorporating 'emotions history' into the history of Zionism. . . . Penslar provides an entirely new conceptualization of the history of Zionism. And he does so in a very readable way. His clearly written book will offer Zionist scholars and scholars in the field of emotions history, as well as undergraduate students, an innovative way to think about the history of Zionism." (Contemporary Jewry) "In dark times where nuanced discussions about Zionism's past, present, and future are of increasing importance, Pensla's carefully constructed foray into the emotional history of Zionism provides its readers with deep historical and conceptual insight into the complex matrix of emotions in which Zionism is embedded." (Israel Studies Review) "Why does Zionism evoke such intense passions? Because as much as it is a political and ideological movement, it is also an emotional movement. Penslar has outdone himself with this intriguing history of the emotions of Zionism's champions and its adversaries."
- Susannah Heschel (author of The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany) “If you think you understand Zionism, read this book and think again. Carefully, elegantly and with tremendous erudition, Derek Penslar takes an ideology many think they understand and illuminates it in a fascinating new way.”
- Peter Beinart (author of The Crisis of Zionism) “Derek Penslar’s masterfully written history of emotions adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of both Zionism and the State of Israel and is crucial reading for anyone interested in grasping the nature of modern nationalism.”
- Michael Brenner (author of In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea) "For a topic as contentious and complex as Zionism, Penslar’s expertise, sober voice, and informed critique shine through as he provides a much-needed addition to ongoing debates that touch at the heart of Jewish identity today."
- Shaul Magid (author of Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical) "Perhaps the finest book on Zionism written in recent memory. This slim, brilliant volume probes with rare equanimity every volatile corner of this topic with its focus squarely on why it generates such promiscuous, even universal heat. Derek Penslar is an outstanding historian who knows so well how to marshal knowledge of the past to illuminate the aching complexities of the present."
- Steven J. Zipperstein (author of Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History) “Derek Penslar has written a brave and thought-provoking book that seeks to understand the well-springs of hope and belief in Zionism. Yet he does not shy away from less attractive passions, especially hatred in the name of Zionism and hatred of Zionism itself. Anyone keen to understand the way such deep emotions animate and shape history must read this compelling book.”
- Ruth Harris (author of Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion, and the Scandal of the Century) “Derek Penslar introduces a ‘new key’ to the history of Zionism with his examination of the emotions involved, helping us understand the passionate dynamics of both Zionist and anti-Zionist sensibilities as they have emerged and developed over time. This is a must read.”
- Ute Frevert (author of Emotions in History—Lost and Found)
