Description
Book SynopsisLloyd Gartner presents, in chronologically-arranged chapters, the story of the changing fortunes of the Jewish communities of the Old World (in Europe and the Middle East and beyond) and their gradual expansion into the New World of the Americas. The book starts in 1650, when there were no more than one and a quarter million Jews in the world (less than a sixth of the number at the start of the Christian era). Gartner leads us through the traditions, religious laws, communities and their interactions with their neighbours, through the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and into Emancipation, the dark shadows of anti-Semitism, the impact of World War II, bringing us up to the twentieth century through Zionism, and the foundation of Israel. Throughout, the story is powerful and engrossing - enlivened by curious detail and vivid insights. Gartner, an expert guide and scholar on the subject, writing from within the Jewish community, remains objective and effective whilst being careful t
Trade ReviewNot only has Gartner written the textbook that teachers of modern Jewish history have longed for, he has created a work of such sagacity and breadth that it deserves to become a bestseller. * Times Higher Education Supplement *
Table of Contents1. The Heritage of Medieval Judaism ; 2. Glimmerings of a New Age ; 3. A Rift Opening, 1720-1780 ; 4. Era of Revolution ; 5. Emancipation and its Fruits: Western Europe, 1815-1870 ; 6. Oppression, Expansion, and Reforms: The Jews of Eastern Europe, 1815-1881 ; 7. Outposts ; 8. Age of Migration and Ideologies ; 9. From War to War, 1914-1939 ; 10. Havens and National Home ; 11. Catastrophe, Recovery, and Triumph ; 12. A New Jewish World, 1950-1980 ; Index
