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A History of the Jews
Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
397 pages, Unknown Binding
Published March 1, 1945
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 25, 2025
This book is an interesting account of the history of the Jewish people. I have a copy of the 1940 edition.
The first three chapters deal with his theory as to the origin of the Hebrew people, and cannot be said to be really history. It is simply theory - which largely departs from the Biblical narrative- without any real proof or substance. Yet it is an interesting theory nonetheless.
The author puts more stock on Assyrian and Moabite accounts of ancient Hebrew history than on Hebrew accounts, and there is no real reason for this.
The theory which Sachar puts forward here seems to have been a popular one , and was later taken up by Howard Fast in his `The Jews : Story Of A People'.
Sachar go's on to document the history of Israel, with accounts of the reigns of King David and Solomon, the two kingdoms in the north and south, the Prophets, the revolt of the Maccabees, the Roman occupation and the destruction of Jerusalem and exile of most of the Jews from Israel by the Romans.
What follows is the experiences of the Jews in Europe, through the centuries, the travails and persecutions in Spain, Germany and Poland. The contributions of the Baal Shem Tov, the Vilna Gaon and Moses Mendelssohn, right up to the beginnings of the holocaust, and the rising of the Phoenix from the ashes of the Nation of Zion.
The State of Israel represents the hope after years of pain, of the Jewish people. In the name of all that the Jews have been through , the State of Israel, the embodiment of the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland , must prevail.
The first three chapters deal with his theory as to the origin of the Hebrew people, and cannot be said to be really history. It is simply theory - which largely departs from the Biblical narrative- without any real proof or substance. Yet it is an interesting theory nonetheless.
The author puts more stock on Assyrian and Moabite accounts of ancient Hebrew history than on Hebrew accounts, and there is no real reason for this.
The theory which Sachar puts forward here seems to have been a popular one , and was later taken up by Howard Fast in his `The Jews : Story Of A People'.
Sachar go's on to document the history of Israel, with accounts of the reigns of King David and Solomon, the two kingdoms in the north and south, the Prophets, the revolt of the Maccabees, the Roman occupation and the destruction of Jerusalem and exile of most of the Jews from Israel by the Romans.
What follows is the experiences of the Jews in Europe, through the centuries, the travails and persecutions in Spain, Germany and Poland. The contributions of the Baal Shem Tov, the Vilna Gaon and Moses Mendelssohn, right up to the beginnings of the holocaust, and the rising of the Phoenix from the ashes of the Nation of Zion.
The State of Israel represents the hope after years of pain, of the Jewish people. In the name of all that the Jews have been through , the State of Israel, the embodiment of the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland , must prevail.
December 25, 2025
This book is an interesting account of the history of the Jewish people. I have a copy of the 1940 edition.
The first three chapters deal with his theory as to the origin of the Hebrew people, and cannot be said to be really history. It is simply theory - which largely departs from the Biblical narrative- without any real proof or substance. Yet it is an interesting theory nonetheless.
The author puts more stock on Assyrian and Moabite accounts of ancient Hebrew history than on Hebrew accounts, and there is no real reason for this.
The theory which Sachar puts forward here seems to have been a popular one , and was later taken up by Howard Fast in his `The Jews : Story Of A People'.
Sachar go's on to document the history of Israel, with accounts of the reigns of King David and Solomon, the two kingdoms in the north and south, the Prophets, the revolt of the Maccabees, the Roman occupation and the destruction of Jerusalem and exile of most of the Jews from Israel by the Romans.
What follows is the experiences of the Jews in Europe, through the centuries, the travails and persecutions in Spain, Germany and Poland. The contributions of the Baal Shem Tov, the Vilna Gaon and Moses Mendelssohn, right up to the beginnings of the Holocaust, and the rising of the Phoenix from the ashes of the Nation of Zion.
The State of Israel represents the hope after years of pain, of the Jewish people. In the name of all that the Jews have been through , the State of Israel, the embodiment of the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland , must prevail.
The first three chapters deal with his theory as to the origin of the Hebrew people, and cannot be said to be really history. It is simply theory - which largely departs from the Biblical narrative- without any real proof or substance. Yet it is an interesting theory nonetheless.
The author puts more stock on Assyrian and Moabite accounts of ancient Hebrew history than on Hebrew accounts, and there is no real reason for this.
The theory which Sachar puts forward here seems to have been a popular one , and was later taken up by Howard Fast in his `The Jews : Story Of A People'.
Sachar go's on to document the history of Israel, with accounts of the reigns of King David and Solomon, the two kingdoms in the north and south, the Prophets, the revolt of the Maccabees, the Roman occupation and the destruction of Jerusalem and exile of most of the Jews from Israel by the Romans.
What follows is the experiences of the Jews in Europe, through the centuries, the travails and persecutions in Spain, Germany and Poland. The contributions of the Baal Shem Tov, the Vilna Gaon and Moses Mendelssohn, right up to the beginnings of the Holocaust, and the rising of the Phoenix from the ashes of the Nation of Zion.
The State of Israel represents the hope after years of pain, of the Jewish people. In the name of all that the Jews have been through , the State of Israel, the embodiment of the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland , must prevail.
October 25, 2019
This particular author was once president of Brandeis University and it shows in several ways, some of them subtle and some of them not. For one, the author praises Brandeis University for its speedy accreditation process by Phi Beta Kappa and makes it an important element of his discussion of Judaism in the United States in the 20th century. For another, this book reeks of the kind of hypocrisy that one expects from people of the left. The author views enlightenment as being dependent on a critical and hostile attitude towards the truth claims of scripture yet simultaneously fails to recognize this as being hostility towards Judaism (and any other revealed religion, for that matter) on the same level as the anti-Semites the author is continually harping on. This book is not worthless, but certainly has a lot wrong with it and it is hard to appreciate a book that is written with such stridency and such arrogant presumptions to knowledge, including a leftist political bias that is deeply offensive. A little less hypocrisy and a lot more graciousness would have made this book easier to appreciate, but the author failed to realize that conservatives read books too, and that is a common problem it would seem.
This particular volume is nearly 500 pages long and is divided into three parts and 33 chapters. The book begins with a look at Palestine before the Hebrews (1) and then moves on to discuss the supposed origins of the Hebrews (2), their entry into the promised land (3), the growth of their national consciousness (4), the divided kingdom (5), as well as the prophets (6), the rise of post-exilic Judaism (7), the social history of Biblical Israel (8), the meeting of Judaism and Hellenism (9), the end of the Jewish state (10), and the rise of Christianity (11). Part two then continues with a discussion of the development of the Talmud (12), the Muslim world (13), the golden age in Muslim Spain (14), four centuries of bloody history in Europe for the Jews (15), the decline and fall of Jewish life in Spain (16), havens of refuge (17), degeneration into superstition (18), and the Jew in the Medieval world (19). Finally, part three contains chapters on the end of the Jewish Middle Ages (20), the fall of the Medieval citadel (21), the supposed triumph of liberalism (22), factors in American Jewish history (23), the pogroms of Russia (24), cultural and religious changes (25), the revival of anti-Semitism (26), Zionism (27), World War I (28), Europe between the world wars (29), Jewish history in the 20th century in the Western hemisphere (30), the epic founding of Israel (31), World War II and after (32), and the new state of Israel (33), after which there is a selected bibliography and index.
Ultimately, this book contains a great deal of information about Jewish history, but that information comes from an anti-biblical stance with a strongly anti-Christian bias as well. The author appears to be proud of Israel as a nation but has a dim view of religion and fails to see that his anti-religious attitude is as threatening to the well-being of his people as were the efforts of those Jews who had converted to Christianity and then sought to debunk their former co-religionists. Much of what the author supposed to be enlightenment is in fact a mirage, and the author's failure to recognize this makes this book more than a little bit insufferable. If the reader is able to correct the biases of the author, add some outside knowledge to provide perspectives the author neglects, and generally provide the balance that this book is lacking, there is some profit that can be gained from reading this. For many readers, though, this book will only confirm the fact that secularists are just as bigoted as any people of faith, a factor they appear not to be able to recognize in themselves, even if it is in evidence in spades here.
This particular volume is nearly 500 pages long and is divided into three parts and 33 chapters. The book begins with a look at Palestine before the Hebrews (1) and then moves on to discuss the supposed origins of the Hebrews (2), their entry into the promised land (3), the growth of their national consciousness (4), the divided kingdom (5), as well as the prophets (6), the rise of post-exilic Judaism (7), the social history of Biblical Israel (8), the meeting of Judaism and Hellenism (9), the end of the Jewish state (10), and the rise of Christianity (11). Part two then continues with a discussion of the development of the Talmud (12), the Muslim world (13), the golden age in Muslim Spain (14), four centuries of bloody history in Europe for the Jews (15), the decline and fall of Jewish life in Spain (16), havens of refuge (17), degeneration into superstition (18), and the Jew in the Medieval world (19). Finally, part three contains chapters on the end of the Jewish Middle Ages (20), the fall of the Medieval citadel (21), the supposed triumph of liberalism (22), factors in American Jewish history (23), the pogroms of Russia (24), cultural and religious changes (25), the revival of anti-Semitism (26), Zionism (27), World War I (28), Europe between the world wars (29), Jewish history in the 20th century in the Western hemisphere (30), the epic founding of Israel (31), World War II and after (32), and the new state of Israel (33), after which there is a selected bibliography and index.
Ultimately, this book contains a great deal of information about Jewish history, but that information comes from an anti-biblical stance with a strongly anti-Christian bias as well. The author appears to be proud of Israel as a nation but has a dim view of religion and fails to see that his anti-religious attitude is as threatening to the well-being of his people as were the efforts of those Jews who had converted to Christianity and then sought to debunk their former co-religionists. Much of what the author supposed to be enlightenment is in fact a mirage, and the author's failure to recognize this makes this book more than a little bit insufferable. If the reader is able to correct the biases of the author, add some outside knowledge to provide perspectives the author neglects, and generally provide the balance that this book is lacking, there is some profit that can be gained from reading this. For many readers, though, this book will only confirm the fact that secularists are just as bigoted as any people of faith, a factor they appear not to be able to recognize in themselves, even if it is in evidence in spades here.
August 13, 2016
I rate this book a 3.71 on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being best.
This book captures the great waves of Jewish history from the mystical to the prophetic to the doctrinaire. If you’ve ever wondered who exactly were the scribes, or the pharisees, or how Jesus and his Jewish followers eventually became Christians, this is a good way to learn. Histories of the Great Rabbis, the Cuzari, and many other branches of this fascinating history are covered here. If you don’t know who Shammai, or Anan ben David, or Hasdai ibn Shaprut, or Judah Halevi, or what the Chalitza is about, then this is a nice introduction to this panorama.
This book captures the great waves of Jewish history from the mystical to the prophetic to the doctrinaire. If you’ve ever wondered who exactly were the scribes, or the pharisees, or how Jesus and his Jewish followers eventually became Christians, this is a good way to learn. Histories of the Great Rabbis, the Cuzari, and many other branches of this fascinating history are covered here. If you don’t know who Shammai, or Anan ben David, or Hasdai ibn Shaprut, or Judah Halevi, or what the Chalitza is about, then this is a nice introduction to this panorama.
December 21, 2023
I read this one a while ago. It's an older book, and it definitely shows its age. My edition was written not long after the state of Israel was founded. However, I still learned a tremendous amount from the single volume that it is. Maybe it wasn't the best choice for my first book on Jewish history, but it won't be the last, and it will be interesting to compare to others.
December 10, 2023
3.75. A fascinating history, dryly told.
April 11, 2007
robust
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews