“Scholem’s diaries are not solely an intellectual autobiography. Behind the curtain of intellectual fury and sociopolitical pronouncements, the development of a genuine young man is evident. There were family struggles. There was the torment of first love and the difficulties of romantic involvement. There were fears about future employment. These, too, permit insight into Scholem’s character and indicate that the great, uncompromising intellectual-in-the-making had a human side. The volume is divided into four sections, each with an introduction by the editor that presents the larger historical context and germane biographical detail on Scholem. These introductions as well as the volume’s general introduction are interesting and will be all-but-essential for readers not already familiar with the contours of modern German history and with Scholem’s life.” — Jay Howard Geller, H-German

“Lamentations of Youth provides intriguing access to a young man’s whoosh of ideas in a time when socialism, anarchism, Zionism, modernism, and cubism were revolutionizing the world.” — Barbara Probst Solomon, New York Sun