Abstract
Léon Blum: Prime Minister, Socialist, Zionist is another volume in the Yale University Press “Jewish Lives” series, which publishes concise biographies of Jewish figures who left an imprint upon art, literature, the economy, and presumably also politics. However, excluding some ancient biblical figures and some contemporary Israeli politicians, there are few Jews who could be considered major political figures. Pierre Birnbaum has now written a passionate biography of Léon Blum, best known for his short-lived position as prime minister of the so-called Popular Front in France on the eve of World War II. The book reflects Birnbaum’s deep admiration for the man, and while reading it one gradually learns the reasons for this admiration and comes to share in it. Blum appears here as an eminently honest person, an idealist always ready to fight for justice, a socialist who chose to focus upon the individual, and a Jew openly upholding his identity and standing up for his brethren in times of trial. Birnbaum also describes how he was a true-believing Zionist, while always remaining a patriotic Frenchman fully assimilated into French culture and society.
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