The tale of how a boy of working-class, immigrant Jewish parents in
Edinburgh became a Cambridge scholar of international repute. Stefan
Reif traces the numerous obstacles encountered as he struggled to make a
life that released him from poverty and anonymity but maintained the
best of Ashkenazi Judaism. We follow his adventures as a pupil subjected
to the rigours of a Scottish Presbyterian education, as well as the
demands of traditional Jewish learning. The account describes London,
Glasgow, and Philadelphia before concentrating on Cambridge and
describing how difficult it was for a scholar who had degrees from
London to win academic recognition. This is not only the personal tale
of how a poor boy made good that will touch the hearts of many who have
struggled to achieve success or seen others who have failed to do so. It
is also a readable, informative, and moving account of Jewish life in
immigrant Edinburgh; of the teachers and politics of Jews' College,
London, in the 1960s; and of the intricacies of Cambridge academia in
the final third of the twentieth century. It contains fresh information,
controversial revelations, and frank assessments of individuals and
institutions.