Historical Studies Book Talk with Yair Mintzker
Tuesday, November 17, 2026
5:00 p.m. | Reception
5:30 p.m. | Talk
Rubenstein Commons Café

How did a little-known pamphlet, published in Germany in 1602, give birth to the legend of the Wandering Jew, one of Europe's most enduring and controversial myths? Drawing on his new book I, Wandering Jew, Princeton historian Yair Mintzker tells the story of the figure of the Wandering Jew from its surprising beginnings to its many reinventions over five centuries, exploring how myths take shape and why they continue to speak to the present.

Yair Mintzker, Member (2011–12) in the School of Historical Studies, is professor of history at Princeton University and the author of, among other works, The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew (Princeton University Press, 2017), which won the National Jewish Book Award and was named a book of the year by the Financial Times.

Labyrinth Books will be on site to offer I, Wandering Jew (Princeton University Press, 2026) for sale.