Jewish Contiguities and the Soundtrack of Israeli History is a complex, bold and highly original study of the history of art music in pre- and post-state Israel. With an exceptional erudition in each field he brings to bear (musicology, Hebrew literature, Israel history, cultural studies) and superb command over the musical metier, Assaf Shelleg stages an arresting narrative about a unique musical modernism, adding an exemplary chapter to our understanding of how music negotiates with nationalism, exoticism, and dislocation, gradually allowing for a repressed sonic past to emerge into a vexed foreground.