Edward Berenson, noted scholar of modern French history, is the author of The Accusation: Blood Libel in an American Town (2019), a chilling investigation of a remarkable incident of antisemitism in the upstate town of Massena, New York in 1928.
After a four-year-old girl vanished in the woods, townspeople and police accused local Jews of committing "ritual murder," a popular slander against the Jews of Europe during the Middle Ages.
A native of Massena, Berenson is Professor of History and Director of the Institute of French Studies at NYU. His recent books include The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story (2012), and Heroes of Empire: Five Charismatic Men and the Conquest of Africa (2010).
Recipient of the American Historical Association’s Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award, Berenson was named Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite by French President Jacques Chirac in 2006.
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