Drawing on personal testimonies, a rich tapestry of eyewitness accounts and a meticulous combing of published texts and recordings, The Rav and the Rebbe reveals the surprisingly close connection between two of the giants of postwar American Jewry, bridging their different lineages and traditions. This is not a mere work of comparison, as it illuminates many facets of the personalities of these two innovators. In doing so, it reinforces the growing sense that Chassidim and the"Lithuanian" tradaition share a vast spiritual world, in which commonality far outweighs divergence.