Writing, and Reading, about Salman Schocken

In the past fifty years, a number of works about Salman Schocken and his activities have appeared, including books on the Schocken Verlag and the Schocken department stores, all of which have been published in German, and an English-language biography. These studies range from specialized monographs to volumes for the general reader, but whatever their focus, they reflect the captivating drama of the Schocken story. A review of these studies illustrates important features of the historian’s enterprise, including the roles of archival and eyewitness sources, the transmission of the historian’s craft from one generation to the next, and the importance of knowledgeable reviewers for an accurate assessment of historical writing.</p>