The Jews

by John Efron, Steven Weitzman (Contributor), Matthias B Lehmann (Contributor)

The Jews: A History is a comprehensive and accessible text that explores the religious, cultural, social, and economic diversity of the Jewish people and their faith.

Placing Jewish history within its wider cultural context, the book covers a broad time span, stretching from ancient Israel to the modern day. It examines Jewish history across a range of settings, including the ancient Near East, the age of Greek and Roman rule, the medieval realms of Christianity and Islam, modern Europe, including the World Wars and the Holocaust, and contemporary America and Israel, covering a variety of topics, such as legal emancipation, acculturation, and religious innovation. The third edition is fully updated to include more case studies and to encompass recent events in Jewish history, as well as religion, social life, economics, culture, and gender.

Supported by case studies, online references, further reading, maps, and illustrations, The Jews: A History provides students with a comprehensive and wide-ranging grounding in Jewish history.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, World History, Textbooks, Judaism

592 pages, Paperback

First published July 13, 2008

Reviews

[Kirk]

The the authors do an excellent job of packing such a massive amount of information into one place, starting in the ancient world and bringing the narrative up to the twenty-first century. Various interpretations and historical understandings are explored without snobbery. There were a number of places were repetition crept in, but that is somewhat to be expected with such a broad field of study. Great for students or for anyone wanting a general survey of Jewish history.

[Sofia]

This was an absolutely grueling read but I got through it

[Mark Singer]

There are textbooks, and there are textbooks. This one had the imposing task of compressing several thousand years of Jewish history into one book, and in my opinion, did so very well. This was required reading for a course on the Jewish Diaspora at Temple University in the Fall of 2011 and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

[Abby]

Very densely written. It's a bit frustrating for students in class, as they often lack the skills to find trends, instead getting bogged down in the details. It's got very good information, though, so it's hard to beat as a textbook.