Jewish Firebugs: Arson and Antisemitism from the Civil War to World War I by Marx, Jeffrey A.
Jewish Firebugs: Arson and Antisemitism from the Civil War to World War I by Marx, Jeffrey A.

Jewish Firebugs: Arson and Antisemitism from the Civil War to World War I

Explores the history of Jews and arson in America Following the Civil War, prominent fire insurance companies...
$59.50 USD
$59.50 USD
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Author: Jeffrey A. Marx
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $59.50
Jewish Firebugs: Arson and Antisemitism from the Civil War to World War I by Marx, Jeffrey A.

Jewish Firebugs: Arson and Antisemitism from the Civil War to World War I

$59.50
Jewish Firebugs: Arson and Antisemitism from the Civil War to World War I by Marx, Jeffrey A.

Jewish Firebugs: Arson and Antisemitism from the Civil War to World War I

$59.50
Author: Jeffrey A. Marx
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description

Explores the history of Jews and arson in America

Following the Civil War, prominent fire insurance companies in the United States issued instructions to their agents to deny Jews fire insurance policies because of their alleged proclivity to arson. In the years that followed, the stereotype of the Jewish arsonist spread throughout the United States, appearing in fire insurance manuals, cartoons, songs, and silent films.

Jewish Firebugs presents the first detailed exploration of both the accusations and the realities of Jewish arson from the late 1800s to the early 1920s. Drawing on such diverse records as fire department reports, insurance records, newspapers, trial transcripts, and humor journals, Jeffrey Marx delves into the social forces that created and then sensationalized the caricature of the Jewish arsonist, investigating how and why Jews became the only racial/ethnic group to be targeted this way in the United States. The book critically assesses how these antisemitic representations were solidified in the American imagination-from the spread of jokes and cartoons, to vaudeville performances across the country.

In addition, Marx also investigates the various factors that led to arson criminal activity in Jewish neighborhoods, the unique way that Jewish "arson gangs" were organized, and how the fire insurance companies actively supported their efforts. Jewish Firebugs illustrates the socioeconomic realities of Jewish immigrant life at the turn of the nineteenth century, and details what the Jewish arsonist trope reveals about the dynamics of antisemitism in the United States.

Author: Jeffrey A. Marx
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 07/07/2026
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781479842131


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2026

About the Author
Jeffrey A. Marx is an Independent Scholar and the author of Smoothing the Jew: Abie the Agent and Ethnic Caricature in the Progressive Era.
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