Michael Curtis

Michael Curtis is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of political science at Rutgers University. He is highly regarded as an expert in several fields--political theory, comparative government, European politics and the Middle East. Among his approximately 30 books a few should be singled out as being particularly important and influential. His analysis of the rise of anti-democratic and antisemitic ideology in France after the Dreyfus affair in a book called “Three Against the Third Republic” is considered the definitive study of this era in early 20th century French political history. “Verdict on Vichy,” published in the United Kingdom and the United States, and translated into Italian and Czech, was named one of the best books of the year by the Sunday Telegraph, London.

Other books pertaining to this subject are “Totalitarianism,” a study of the 20th century European totalitarian regimes, and “Antisemitism in the Contemporary World.” The latter book is a collection based on the papers delivered at a groundbreaking conference Professor Curtis organized in the 1980s. This book continues to be referred to today as laying out some of the most important theory about the origins, rise, and persistence of antisemitism throughout the world.

Professor Curtis is considered an expert on the Middle East. His many books on this area of the world cover a number of subjects. He was one of the first to discuss the tangled web of the interconnections between religion and politics in the Muslim world in “Religion and Politics in the Middle East.” Other significant books on the Middle East include “Israel: Social Structure and Change” and “Israel in the Third World.” His most recent book on the Middle East is “Orientalism and Islam: European Thinkers on Oriental Despotism in the Middle East and India,” 2009, published by Cambridge University Press. It was widely reviewed in journals.

Professor Curtis is the author, as well, of textbooks that cover political theory, comparative government, and European government structure. These textbooks are used throughout the United States. One is currently in its fifth edition.

Professor Curtis has been an activist as well as a scholar. For many years, he was the president of American Professors for Peace in the Middle East and editor of the Middle East Review. As such he was often called upon by the press and television for comments as problems arose in the Middle East conflict over the last decades.

Professor Curtis was born in London and educated at the London School of

Economics. He came to the United States and stayed to do a doctorate at Cornell University. In addition to his years at Rutgers, he has taught at Yale University, Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, University of Bologna, and given lectures at hundreds of institutions. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey, is married, and has two sons and six grandchildren.

EDUCATION

London School of Economics, 1951, B. Sc. (Econ.)

with 1st class honors

Cornell University 1954-56; Ph.D. 1958

HONORS

Fulbright Travel Grant 1954

Rutgers Faculty Fellowship, 1963-64, 1968-69

Visiting Fellow, Center of International Studies,

Princeton University, 1973

Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 1981

Fellowship, Bellagio, Rockefeller Institute, 1981

Lady Davis Visiting Professor, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1984

Fulbright Professor of Political Science, University of Bologna, 1989

Fellows, European University Institute, Fiesole, 1989

Fellowship, Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University, 1994-1995

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

Most recent books:

Verdict on Vichy, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2002

Verdict on Vichy, Arcade, New York, 2003

La Francia Ambigua, Corbaccio, Milan, 2004

Verdikt nad Vichy, Prague, 2004

Introduction to Comparative Government, 5th ed., Longman, 2003

Western European Government and Politics, 2nd ed., Longman, 2003

Orientalism and Islam, European Thinkers on Oriental Despotism in the Middle East and India, Cambridge University Press, 2009

Three Against the Third Republic, reissued with new introduction, Transaction, 2010

Reviews of “Verdict on Vichy” (2003-2006) for editions in different countries) and “Orientalism and Islam”

London Times, Sunday Times, London Daily Telegraph, London Sunday Telegraph, Jewish Chronicle, London, Los Angeles Times, Oxford Times, Times Literary Supplement, The JC.com, Australia, Tribune, UK, Good Book Guide, Irish Times, Dublin, Contemporary Review, The New York Sun, Washington Post, Avvenire on line, Italy, Liberonweb, Italy, Il Giornale, Italy, Il Tempo, Italy, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, Italy, Giornale di Sicilia, Italy, Il Signa libro, Italy, L’Indice dei libri, Italy, Quotidiano de Bari, Italy, Spectator, Literary Review, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Contemporary Review, Forward, Catholic Herald, Society, Perspective on Politics, American Historical Review, ASMEA, Review of Politics, Sehepukte, Interpretation, International Journal of Middle East Studies.

Lectures and appearances in conjunction with publication of “Verdict on Vichy” and “Orientalism and Islam”:

Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago, IL, London School of Economics, National Committee on American Foreign Policy, New York, Los Angeles Public Library, CA, Princeton University Bookstore, Labyrinth Books, Princeton, NJ, Micawber Books, Princeton, NJ, Robin’s Book Store, Philadelphia, Bookspan, CNN broadcast on “Verdict on Vichy,” repeated many times, 12 radio broadcasts on “Orientalism and Islam,” on many stations both public radio and commercial radio throughout the country, Center for Jewish History, New York, The Nassau Club, Princeton, NJ, American Jewish Committee, NJ, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL

Earlier books:

Central Government: An Introduction to the British System, Pitman, London,

1956, 2nd edition 1965; 3rd edition 1970

Three Against the Republic, Princeton University Press, 1959

The Great Political Theories, Vol. 1: From Plato and Aristotle to Locke and

Montesquieu, ed, Avon, New York, 1961

The Great Political Theories, Vol. 2: From Rousseau to the Present Day, ed,

Avon, New York, 1962

The Nature of Politics, ed. Avon, New York, 1963

Western European Integration, Harper and Row, 1965, editor of 15 book series on Comparative Government and Politics for Harper and Row, of which 12 appeared

Comparative Government and Politics, Harper and Row, New York, 1968

The Middle East in the Contemporary World, ed., AAAPME, New York, 1968

Totalitarianism in Perspective: Three Views, co-author with Carl Friedrich and

Benjamin Barber, Praeger, New York, 1970

Marxism, ed., Atherton, New York, 1970

People and Politics in the Middle East, ed., Transaction, New Brunswick, 1970

Elementi di Scienza Politica, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1972

Israel: Social Structure and Change, ed., Transaction, New Brunswick, 1973

The British Constitution, Oceana, Dobbs Ferry, 1974

The Palestinians, co-editor, Transaction, New Brunswick, 1975

Israel in the Third World, co-editor, Transaction, New Brunswick, 1976

Constitutions of Dependencies and Special Sovereignties: Palestine, Oceana, Dobbs Ferry, 1976

Comparative Government and Politics, 2nd edition, 1978

Supplement to the U.K. Constitution, Oceana Press, 1978

Totalitarianism, Transaction, New Brunswick, 1979

The Great Political Theories, 2 vols., rev. ed., Avon, 1981

Introduction to Benedetto Croce, Historical Materialism and the Economics of Karl Marx, Transaction, New Brunswick, 1981

Religion and Politics in the Middle East, ed., Westview, Boulder, 1981

Introduction to Comparative Government, editor and co-author, Harper Collins,

1985

Antisemitism in the Contemporary World, ed., Westview, Boulder, 1986

The Middle East Reader, ed., Transaction, New Brunswick, 1987

Introduction to Comparative Government, 2nd ed., editor and co-author, Harper Collins, 1990

Introduction to Comparative Government, 3rd ed., Harper Collins, 1993

Introduction to Comparative Government, 4th ed., Longmans, 1997

Western European Government and Politics, Longmans, 1997

Marxism: The Inner Dialogs, Transaction, 1997

Introduction to Comparative Government, editor and co-author, Harper Collins,

5th edition, 2003

Western European Government and Politics, Longmans, 2nd edition, 2003

Introduction to Comparative Government, editor and co-author, Harper Collins,

Updated edition, 2006