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A History of the Jews
Some shelf and edge wear, with creasing. tiny tear/creasing to bottom spine. Pages are clean.
768 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 29, 2018
Years and years ago I took a class in Jewish history with Professor Richard B. Marks and this was the reference text. Some 44 years later I see this book, the identical edition, sitting on a Park Slope stoop for giveaway. Such is the pull of nostalgia. I picked it up thinking I’d just put it on the shelf but I started reading it, of course.
First published in 1948 and revised 20 years later, Grayzel created an admirable work of popular history, spanning, as the cover says, “From the Destruction of Judah in 586 BC to the Present Arab Israeli Conflict.” One of the sorrows of the book’s last chapters is captured in the word “present” because fifty years since the revised edition that descriptor would not need to be revised for a new edition. Grayzel is an old-school popular historian, not quite of the Parson Weems mold but not far from it. He only lacks the self-manufactured legends. More on that later.
In this encyclopedic volume, chapters are broken down into subchapters, and subchapters into paragraph or two length topics, each with its italicized subhead. Such an expanded outline structure is handy for a reference book and appropriate for the sheer number of discreet topics. Needless to say, however, the comprehensive scope means the generalization and summary levels are respectively broad and concise so there thematic strands throughout but not a strong narrative; it is more like a fat timeline, identifying interesting topics, individuals, events, ideas without the detail necessary for sustained reading interest.
In addition to its breadth, there is the fact that it is a commemorative history, not a critical one. Grayzel is not going to ask the tough questions or provide the provocative voice but instead it is ever a celebration of the culture, the resilience, and the genius of Jewish contribution to world civilization. Particularly weak are the sections on the founding of Israel and its first two decades. Because of the immediacy of the events to the writing you’d expect journalism but it is polite and modest propaganda. In fairness, Grayzel didn’t invent this propaganda, he received it. Some of what he reports was not just the conventional wisdom of the day in the West but what the official record indicated and only recently have Israeli releases of private and previously kept secret documents revealed a more complicated history than Grayzel provides. Still, like Hourani’s History of the Arab Peoples, this is more than a useful artifact, it is a starting point, a worthy encapsulating of a great and impactful people on the world stage.
First published in 1948 and revised 20 years later, Grayzel created an admirable work of popular history, spanning, as the cover says, “From the Destruction of Judah in 586 BC to the Present Arab Israeli Conflict.” One of the sorrows of the book’s last chapters is captured in the word “present” because fifty years since the revised edition that descriptor would not need to be revised for a new edition. Grayzel is an old-school popular historian, not quite of the Parson Weems mold but not far from it. He only lacks the self-manufactured legends. More on that later.
In this encyclopedic volume, chapters are broken down into subchapters, and subchapters into paragraph or two length topics, each with its italicized subhead. Such an expanded outline structure is handy for a reference book and appropriate for the sheer number of discreet topics. Needless to say, however, the comprehensive scope means the generalization and summary levels are respectively broad and concise so there thematic strands throughout but not a strong narrative; it is more like a fat timeline, identifying interesting topics, individuals, events, ideas without the detail necessary for sustained reading interest.
In addition to its breadth, there is the fact that it is a commemorative history, not a critical one. Grayzel is not going to ask the tough questions or provide the provocative voice but instead it is ever a celebration of the culture, the resilience, and the genius of Jewish contribution to world civilization. Particularly weak are the sections on the founding of Israel and its first two decades. Because of the immediacy of the events to the writing you’d expect journalism but it is polite and modest propaganda. In fairness, Grayzel didn’t invent this propaganda, he received it. Some of what he reports was not just the conventional wisdom of the day in the West but what the official record indicated and only recently have Israeli releases of private and previously kept secret documents revealed a more complicated history than Grayzel provides. Still, like Hourani’s History of the Arab Peoples, this is more than a useful artifact, it is a starting point, a worthy encapsulating of a great and impactful people on the world stage.
June 2, 2017
Excellent book, well written and worth the read.
October 16, 2010
Knowledge is the road to piety. a constant reading of the Torah would encourage good actions & good thoughts. Such thoughts and actions constantly repeated would become habits: and good habits result in good character. - The Jews believe the when the Messiah comes there will be justice & peace in the world and that is another reason we can't accept Jesus as the Messiah. Look at all the injustice & war that has been done in his name. - -In other groups the physical body, or the national territory, dominated the group- soul; in the case of the Jews the group-soul was the all important element, for it molded and revived the nation.
April 7, 2009
It is a very good book.It covers from
the Babylonian Exile until 1968.
the Babylonian Exile until 1968.
November 26, 2013
I began to read six years ago, it was sort of boring and only made it to page 400. So, I will try to finish it now.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews