Publisher's Synopsis
The history of the Jewish people has been characterized by persecution, hatred, exile, and genocide; but also by economic prosperity, cultural vibrancy, and social achievement. Endemic antisemitism in Continental Europe and the disaster of the Holocaust are part of the story, but so too is the tendency in the English-speaking world to a more positive estimation of the Jewish contribution.
During the past 30 years, the study of modern Jewish history has moved from the periphery to the centre of academic historiography. The authors of this bold new history have provided a comprehensive and up-to-date review, charting and analysing the modern Jewish world in the period since the Enlightenment. As well as covering the Holocaust, the Diaspora and the Arab-Israeli conflict, the authors have examined antisemitism and philosemitism, Sephardi and Oriental Jewry, the development of Zionism, and the role of women in Judaism. Only by putting longer term trends and dynamics into perspective can we hope to reach a better understanding of the experiences that have formed some of the most turbulent events of modern times.
