History of the Jews: A National Bestseller—A Brilliant Survey Exploring 4000 Years of Jewish Genius and Their World Impact

by Paul Johnson

A national bestseller, this brilliant 4000 year survey covers not only Jewish history but he impact of Jewish genius and imagination on the world. By the author of Modern Times: The World From the Twenties to the Eighties.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Judaism, Jewish, Middle East, Israel

656 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Paul Johnson works as a historian, journalist and author. He was educated at Stonyhurst School in Clitheroe, Lancashire and Magdalen College, Oxford, and first came to prominence in the 1950s as a journalist writing for, and later editing, the New Statesman magazine. He has also written for leading newspapers and magazines in Britain, the US and Europe.

Paul Johnson has published over 40 books including A History of Christianity (1979), A History of the English People (1987), Intellectuals (1988), The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815—1830 (1991), Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the Year 2000 (1999), A History of the American People (2000), A History of the Jews (2001) and Art: A New History (2003) as well as biographies of Elizabeth I (1974), Napoleon (2002), George Washington (2005) and Pope John Paul II (1982).

Reviews

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read in Spanish] -- [Reseña en español más abajo]

A very long book, but despite that it is not long enough to write about the whole story of a religion. A great historian such as Paul Johnson knew how to summarize everything in one book. I could realize how biased from the archaeological and biblical point of view he was and I don't mean it in a wrong way. It is always difficult to explain something objectively when it comes to the meaning of a religion, but Johnson makes it through proofs and facts, as objectively as possible even though when we talk about a difficult topic such as religion, it is difficult to be objective.
The first 3 parts are very interesting. After that, everything gets a bit dense to follow so it is necessary to read it carefully and maybe more than once to absorb everything.
Interesting book, I recommend it to a person who is really interested in getting more details or in knowing more about the Jews, their beliefs and religion.

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Un libro bastante largo, pero a pesar de eso, no es lo suficiente para escribir acerca de toda la historia de una religión. Un gran historiador como Paul Johnson supo resumir todo esto en un solo libro (1 tomo). Uno se da cuenta que está influenciado desde el lado arqueológico y bíblico. Siempre es difícil explicar objetivamente el significado de una religión, pero Johnson lo hace a través de pruebas y hechos tácitos, lo más objetivamente posible, a pesar que cuando se habla de un tema tan complicado como religión, es muy difícil ser objetivo.
Las primeras 3 partes son bastante interesantes, después de eso, se complica todo un poco, pero hay que leerlo con calma y más de una vez.
Interesante historia, recomendable para la persona que esté realmente interesada en recabar detalles o saber más acerca de los judíos y sus creencias y religión.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is dedicated to the Jewish Nation, reborn as a sovereign people, in the Land of Israel.
In this work Johnson undertakes a comprehensive study of the Jewish people (from the route word Yehudi, meaning people of Yehudah (Judea), popularly referred to today as the West Bank, the ancient cradle of the Jewish people.
He begins the book by referring to the town of Hebron, where the founder of the Hebrew Nation is buried with his wife Sarah. Johnson refers to the previous occupiers of Hebron, such as the Canaanites, Edomites, Hellenes, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans, which have all disappeared from this land, and compares this to the fact that the Jews are still there. Indeed there is a flourishing Jewish community in Hebron.
Reading this (the book was written in 1987), one is struck by the tragic irony, and a sense of extreme injustice, that so much of the world establishment, is demonizing the Jewish community of Hebron (75% of which are women and children), as well as all other Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, for the crime of living in their ancient homeland.
This despite the fact that the Jews where living in the area, over 2 400 years before the first Arabs arrived.
Johnson presents conclusive and indisputable evidence from ancient documentation, archaeology and other sciences, that there has been a constant Jewish presence in the Land of Israel, for 3 900 years. Johnson is writing as a British Catholic historian, with no brief for the Zionist cause, but is fair-minded unlike the Palestinianist Goebbels'ses such as Noam Chomsky. Edward Said, and Norman Finkelstein, who subvert history to deny the Jews the write to live in the ancient homeland.
Johnson details the contributions of the Jews to the world and the Jewish people, and the experiences of and persecutions of the Jews in 7 parts. Against this backdrop we read of the experiences of those great Jews who have made incredible contributions to the world such as Moses, King David, King Solomon, Elijah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Rabbi Akiva, Maimonides, Judah haLevi, Manasseh ben Israel, Baal Shem Tov, the Vilna Gaon, the Rothschilds, Disraeli, Samson Raphael Hirsch, Emma Lazarus, Luzatto and Sir Moses Montefiore, as well as the founders of the modern Zionist movement, the ingathering of the Jews to their ancient homeland: Rabbi Zevi Hirsch Kalischer , Rabbi Judah Alkalai , Moses Hess , Leon Pinsker , Theodore Herzl , Chaim Weizmann , Vladimir Jabotinsky , David Ben Gurion and Menachem Begin.
We also learn of the damage done to Jews and the world by the charlatans and anti-Jewish Jews like Pablo of Burgos, Shabattai Zevi, Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxembourg, and Isaac Babel. He points out how Jewish Communists
Always renounced their Judaism, which indeed shows how ridiculous it is for some anti-Semites of the right to blame the Jewish people as whole for Communist destruction and terror.


Johnson details the persecution of the Jews in Europe, and also talks of their brutal persecution by Moslems in the Middle East, and we see that the idea that the Arabists have inculcated in the minds of many, that Jews where well treated under Moslem rule, is a grotesque untruth.
Unfortunately European historians on Jewish history, both Jew and Gentile, have tended to paint the story of the Jews in Arab countries as an idyllic existence, while in fact they lived under conditions of extreme inequality and persecution, often being subjected to massive and vicious pogroms by their Arab neighbours and overlords, sometimes greater and more genocidal, than the pogroms of Europe, with the obvious exception of Hitler's holocaust.
The book does however have some flaws. Unfortunately, in the chapter about how the Jewish self-determination was crushed, after the destruction by the Romans of the Temple and Jerusalem, he does not recount how the Roman Emperor Hadrian named Israel 'Palestine' in order to cut us off from our land and heritage.
Now those cruel ones who again wish to cut us off from our land and heritage, once again refer to Israel as 'Palestine'.
The spirit of the Roman Empire lives on in the UN, university campuses and leftist academics around the world, the Arabs, China, the EU and Third World governments etc-all of whom wish to obliterate the name of Israel, and so refer to Eretz Yisrael as the hideous abomination-'Palestine'.
In the name of 'Palestine' Jewish men, women and children are being murdered, as so many times before in history.
While the term 'Palestinian' and 'Palestine' has only been used exclusively to refer to the Arabs who claim ownership of the Land of Israel-after 1967, it is unfortunate that the name had been used by historians so often as the name 'Palestine' is a colonial creation, and to use it to refer to Israel prior to the naming of this land as 'Palestine' is simply superfluous-it should never be recognized as a legitimate name for Israel and Judea, at any time.

[Mesoscope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really reviewing this book, I'm explaining why I abandoned it pretty early on. This book is not for me, and personally I feel it shouldn't be for anyone, but you can draw your own conclusions.

I abandoned this book when it became excruciatingly obvious that Johnson was cherry-picking historical arguments to find archaeological and historiographical support for Biblical events, and reducing more than a century of criticisms of this approach to Biblical archaeology to straw man caricatures.

I honestly did not know there are still historians working today who regard the Flood Tablet of the Gilgamesh epic as evidence for a historical flood. Johnson raises and then ignores the compelling archaeological counter-evidence - that major floods in Mesopotamia occurred at different times in different places. But he does not consider the equally important comparative counter-evidence - that the motif of a civilization-ending flood sent by the gods to purge a bungled humanity is a wide-spread motif, found not just among the Sumerians, Akkadians, and Jews, but the Mayans.

If he had at least suggested that he was aware of problems such as this instead of relentlessly ignoring them, I would have no objection, but as it is, his fundamental posture shows itself through this and many more examples to be studiously anti-empirical and theoretically anachronistic.

His analysis of Mesopotamian precursors to Moses show similar staggering weaknesses of omission. I abandoned the book when he considered the historical evidence for Abraham having actually come from Ur, without pausing to even consider the question of whether or not there was in fact such a historical personage.

No one who is not already powerfully sympathetic to the historicity of Biblical events, or unaware of the last century of scholarship in this arena, could find this book persuasive. We would not entertain an astronomy book that spoke from a geocentric paradigm; neither should we accept an engagement of Biblical archaeology that ignores what we know of folklore, depth psychology, comparative religions, anthropology, and archaeology, except insofar as they lend support to its conclusions.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This history of the Jews is written through the ideas of a devout Christian who believes, i think wrongly, that Jesus intended to abandon Judaism in order to start a new religion . Yet, Johnson's own account of Jesus' ministry confirms that Jesus, a student and follower of Hillel, had as His mission the aim of getting Jews to practice what they preached

Before enlarging upon this perhaps controversial claim, we should consider Johnson's reasons for writing the 4000 year recorded history of the Jews. First, there's that fact: it is a 4000 year history, the longest continuous history of any people, a history known not only through the Bible, but through ancient writings of people the Jews came in contact with We know about the Jews from cuniform tablets, papyruses, steles' sculptures, comparative mythologies and fragments of ancient history, as well as from archaeological investigation

However, it's not their longevity alone that fascinates Johnson It's that from Abraham's first entry on the historical scene up to modern times, Jews had a vision of man's purpose, of the dignity of the individual and the equality of all before God. In his epilogue, Johnson asks what the world would have been without the insistence of Jews on these values He admits someone else might have come along and preached these ideas, but they didn't and the Jews did. Jesus died at the hands of the Romans for such preaching. That Jesus expected Jews to believe as He did is shown by his calling some Pharisees hypocrites. A hypocrite is one who supposedly ascribes to what you believe, but doesn't practice it.

Johnson admits that Jesus was a student of the Pharisee Hillel Indeed, having been raised on Hillel's teachings, while reading the Gospels, I was surprised that Jesus quoted that sage so often.

Johnson does tell the famous story of Hillel and the pagan When the pagan asked Hillel to explain Judaism while he stood on one leg, Hillel said,"Do not do unto others whatyou wouldn't have them do unto you. All else is commentary."

Johnson derides Hillel's answer because, Johnson says, to be Jewish you still had to follow the Law, by which he means the Kosher laws, Sabbath rules , and male circumcision. What Johnson fails to understand is that the laws don't have to be followed for salvation. They are followed as reminders to be pure and good and never to forget your duty to God and man. Following the letter of the law and not being a good and charitable person doesn't make you a good Jew Not only was that Hillel's point, but it is both explicit and implicit in Leviticus. Or does Johnson reject the advanced morality of that book, a morality which underlies current charity, labor law, injury law and ethical dealing? Leviticus is part of Jewish law. Does Johnson believe Jesus intended that to be ababdoned?

Johnson says Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Passover with the intent of starting a new religion. Yes, he created havoc with the hated money changers. But He was not alone in despising the Jewish priesthood: the Sadducees.The Jews already hated them and of course they were done away with by Rabbinical Judaism

Jesus' anger was very Jewish at the time. No most people then or now wouldnt create an overt disturbance, but Jesus was not alone among his contemporariee

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, carrying a palm frond, like all devout Jews making the Passover pilgrimage. That evening, like all Jewish leaders at the Seder, he blessed the wine, using a Kiddush cup--what Christians call a chalice. He then followed the order of the Seder by blessing the Matzoh (unleavened bread) . All this is ordinary Judaism

Johnson claims that Jesus was establishing communion so that the wine stood for his blood and the bread for his body. Well, first of all, Jews don't eat blood. Kosher Jews salt their meat to rid it of blood The Kiddush and Motzi are regular features of Jewish holy days and have nothing to do with communion.

However, the Greek festival of Demeter, well known to Romans and other pagans, aswell as Grecophiles did feature participants drinking wine and eating bread so they could have eternal life. This seems to be a more likely origin of Communion than Jesus' leading the Seder The Gospels were written 100 years and more after Jesus and they were written in Greek

The reason I gave this only 3 stars is that, despite the excellence and impartiality of most of this history, Johnson's proselytizing at the end is inappropriate for the history he purported to be writing Also with his knowledge of classics, he should have noted the Greek origins of Communion. Moreover, the history ofthe Jews didn't end with Jesus as Johnson shows, so why did he interjectChristian proselytizing in his history of Jews?

[Lior Lichai · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now, I have a confession to make before I begin my review. I did not finish this book. I could not finish this book. My rabbi asked me to go through the books they recommend as resources and see what I thought of them.

I think the publisher should be sued for false advertising. They described this book as a "history." It is not a history. It's a mix of Christian biblical literalism and thinly veiled Christian supersessionism. Very thinly veiled. At one point, he says, apparently with no self-awareness, "historians are rarely as objective as they wish to appear."

He refers to the Hebrew Bible as the "Old Testament," which was a warning sign in and of itself. He goes on at length about how Jews were actually completely wrong in our interpretation of Isaiah; according to him, the messiah would be . . . exactly how Christians think Jesus is. Again, thinly veiled Christian supersessionism. He generally derides the indigenous polytheistic religions of the Middle East as superstitious and primitive, but says that their practice of having statues and other images of their gods (which the Israelites considered idolatry) was, in fact, totally okay--because, of course, Christians do it.

Later on, he stops dancing along the border of supersessionism and charges right across, straight into the land of Messianic wet dreams, when he says that Jesus "[took] Hillel's to its logical conclusion." At that point, I thought it couldn't get any worse.

Then I got to the section on Jesus's supposed arrest and trial, which he describes in exactly the way antisemitic Christians have been describing it since they decided demonizing Jews was the best way to suck up to the Romans.

At that, I basically went, "Fuck it, I can't take this any longer." I don't know. Maybe it got better. It could hardly of gotten worse.

Oh, and, FYI, he refers to Black people as n*groes decades after that stopped being acceptable.

For a more detailed review, check out my Jewish book blog.

[Jeffrey Spitz Cohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written by one of the most prominent historians of the 20st Century, and as a best-seller in the late 80s, has certainly been read by a large number of non-Jews. But this book should be read by every Jew who lacks a full appreciation for what Judaism has contributed to modern civilization. And the vast majority of Jews fit that description.

It isn't so much what Johnson will teach you – it's how he says it, how he transmits the essence. To wit, here is part of his description of Moses:

"[He was] a man of intense spirituality, … hating injustice, fervently seeking to create a Utopia, a man who not only acted as intermediary between G-d and man but sought to translate the most intense idealism into practical statesmanship, and noble concepts into details of everyday life."

Johnson credits the Jews with assuming responsibility to "take the lead in turning a savage and irrational world into a reasonable one, conforming to the divine and perfect intellect."

Johnson traces Jews' connection to progressive politics to the Bible and to the Prophetic tradition, referring to it at one point as the Amos Syndrome.

I was particularly struck by the intellectual vigor that Johnson brings to the interpretation of Jewish history. For instance, he places Einstein in the Jewish tradition of trying to make sense of the universe, while he laments that the general theory of relativity has been misappropriated and mischaracterized by adherents of moral relativism.

Jewish passivity during Holocaust, which is a generalization rife with exceptions, is insightfully explained by Johnson. It's also worth noting that Johnson, a Catholic, comes down squarely on the side of those who believe Pope Pius XII was shamefully negligent during the genocide.

The book concludes with an emphatic reminder of the Jews’ monumental contributions to modern civilization. Johnson writes:

“To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person; of the individual conscience and so of personal redemption; of the collective conscience and so of social responsibility; of peace as an abstract ideal and love as the foundation of justice, and many other items which constitute the basic moral furniture of the human mind.”

And precisely because they are part of the “basic moral furniture of the human mind,” Jews seldom get credit for these ideas. Perhaps Jews would better appreciate their inheritance if they read this book. Coming from the likes of Paul Johnson, such praise cannot be dismissed as self-congratulatory ethnocentrism, even if my review can be dismissed as such.

[Rajiv Chopra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, and for anyone interested in learning about the Jews, this is an excellent book. Paul Johnson has covered the saga of the Jews in an admirable way. Having said that, it is a heavy read, and may require one or two re-readings after a space of time, to fully understand the book. This, I write from the perspective of an Asian who has read about the persecution of the Jews, but who's knowledge is sketchy.

The manner in which I approached the book also made it a bit confusing at first, with references to Biblical characters, as I had not realized that the Old Testament is more historical than I had realized. It is also the history of a people, and not the history of a nation: it is not the history of Jerusalem and Israel, as I soon realized. Having said this, the one gripe that I do have about the book, is that he could have divided the chapters into sections, which would have made it easier to understand the flow of the story from continent to continent.

The approach is balanced, and this is something that I like. It would have been easy to adopt a somewhat biased and hysterical stance, especially considering what the Jews have endured. That he wrote the book in a balanced and somewhat detached manner is remarkable.

It is also sad to understand how, in the name of God, we persecute people, and initiate pogroms against them due to our own ignorance and blind faith. In that sense, it is as much of a history of human bigotry and cruelty.

I read the book, and came out at the end, with considerable admiration for the Jews, as a people.

This is a book that I highly recommend.

[Alex Waterston · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book written by someone who believes the (mostly) literal truth of the Bible, and where archeological evidence is lacking, or disagrees with the biblical narrative, the Bible is presented as evidence in its stead. That alone would be enough to stop reading. Unfortunately, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The author dismisses, wholesale, all non Judeo-Christian people as backwards, uncivilized barbarians. He dismisses Islam as a fringe group of uncultured Jewish heretics. He nonchalantly assumes the correctness of monotheism and the moral and social inferiority of pre-monotheistic paganism.

Ultimately, this is written from the perspective of one who wholeheartedly accepts the myth of white Christian European superiority, speaking of Africans, Muslims, Indians, etc. with the colonial language of the "noble savage". Jews are not exempt from this condescension. The image of the Jewish people presented here, is as the progenitor of the morally and socially superior white man, but not his equal. He is not quite barbarian, but neither is he truly civilized I.E. European.

All in all, a deeply offensive and inaccurate book with Victorian-colonialist views on race.

[Leah M]

DNF'd at 65% and I'm shelving this to come back to when I can devote the time to this tome.

It is fascinating to see the entire history of Judaism and Jews laid out in a way that incorporates not only the biblical narrative, but incorporates archaeological and historical records, discusses how Judaism changed over the course of the millennia that it has been around and how it has stayed the same, and manages to approach the topic with a genuinely curious mind.

My one criticism of this book is the one that led me to DNF the audiobook - the narrator. Wanda McCaddon has a posh British accent, but that's the best I could say about her narration. Her voice is higher pitched and came across as somewhat shrill and kind of quavery to my admittedly sensitive ears. Somehow, she managed to make one of the most fascinating, comprehensive reads on Jews into a droning bore like being in history class during that last few, lazy, hot, summer days at the end of the high school year. But I probably could have pushed myself through if I tried for another few weeks, if it wasn't for her shocking inability to pronounce a single word in Hebrew, Yiddish, or any other diaspora language.

I can't help but question when the narration of a book that focuses entirely on that tribe throughout history is turned over to someone who simply is not capable of recognizably saying any words - and I'm not just talking about the colonial British way of pronouncing city names as though they were British and the people living there were wrong. No, the narrator has invented creative and hideous new ways to butcher words, places, even names. The Sinai peninsula in Egypt? I'm not sure how it is pronounced in Arabic, but in Hebrew it's pronounced more like 'see-NYE' and is said also as 'SYE-nye' here in America. I have never once heard it pronounced 'SYE-nay-eye' anywhere except by this narrator. It took me a few repetitions to be sure that I had actually heard her say that, but yep. And Mordechai? The hero of the Purim holiday, which is pronounced 'MORE-de-kheye' with the 'kh' pronounced as the hard, guttural sound that isn't found in English. You know, the one that sounds like you're clearing your throat? Well, apparently we've all been wrong, because Mrs. McCraddon (I picture her yelling at students daring to correct her) clarifies that it should apparently be pronounced 'more-dee-cay-EYE' and this one I had to listen to three times before recognizing her misspoken version of my own father's name.

Another thing I can't figure out is how she was even hired to narrate a book featuring so, so many words (29 hours worth) that she can't even make a recognizable approximation of. Disappointed, but sadly, not surprised to see this yet again. At this point, I'm more surprised to find a book featuring a Jewish narrator, even when the author and subjects are Jews, or at least one where they take the time to at least learn the words.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Johnson is top-notch. A great, interesting historian. History of the Jews was extremely well researched. I hope to read it again.

[Jorge Zuluaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que bueno es descubrir un gran autor o una gran autora, del(a) que sabes te quedan por delante centenares, tal vez miles de páginas por leer.

Esto es exactamente lo que siento después de terminar mi primer libro del gran historiador Paul Johnson ¡que buen escritor! ¡que buen divulgador de la historia!

Como lo he dicho en muchas de mis reseñas, la historiografía (o como la llamamos informalmente, la historia) no es precisamente la disciplina más fácil de divulgar.

Es por eso que encontrar buenos libros y autores de divulgación histórica, es simplemente ¡muy afortunado!.

Este es precisamente el caso de Paul Johnson. En el caso de este, mi primer libro de este autor, en cerca de 800 páginas, Johnson te lleva por un recorrido de más de 4.000 años de historia, de una cultura ajena a la mayoría de nosotros - los que no somos judíos, pero al mismo tiempo crucial para la historia del resto de la humanidad, como termina justamente demostrando; y lo hace en un estilo espontáneo y fresco que entretiene casi como si leyeras una novela.

Ya me conseguí otros dos libros de Johnson y espero estar reseñándolos pronto.

Pero me estoy extendiendo mucho hablando del autor y no del libro. Vamos al grano, es decir, al libro.

En pocas frases ¿de qué trata el libro?. El nombre del libro lo dice todo, no hay ningún truco editorial ahí. Solo debo agregar, aunque es bastante obvio, que deben prepararse para recorrer 4000 años de historia; no solamente de los que llamamos de forma un poco simplista "judíos" (en realidad se trata de una diversidad muy amplia de grupos humanos, nacionalidades, orígenes, posiciones éticas, morales e intelectuales distintas, que comparten una misma "raíz" religiosa y fuente de sabiduría, las leyes de Moises y los textos asociados); sino también de toda la humanidad que ha sido profundamente afectada por las ideas de esa cultura.

¿Cuál es más o menos la estructura del libro?. El libro se divide en 7 largos capítulos (muy, muy largos, ese es uno de sus defectos) que recorren en orden cronológico (sin faltar algo de solapamiento temporal inevitable) los períodos más importantes de la historia de los judíos: "los israelitas" (el surgimiento de los grupos humanos y los patriarcas de esta cultura milenaria), "el judaísmo" (que cuenta el nacimiento mismo de la religión, sus heroes, sus libros), "la catedrocacia" (los judíos en la edad media y el surgimiento de la cultura del respeto a los académicos y los libros), "el gueto" (la historia del aislamiento la persecución centenaria de los judíos, especialmente en europa y oriente cercano), "la emancipación" (la luz al final del túnel, con un desastre en la mitad), "el Holocausto (¡sí! con mayúscula ¡hubo un holocausto judío!) y "Sión" (el traumático surgimiento del estado de Israel en tiempos modernos).

Recomiendo muy especialmente tener a la mano el glosario al final del libro, que define los términos más usados por el judaísmo y que para nosotros, los "gentiles", pueden resultar confusos (algunos incluso siendo relativamente familiares): Sanedrín, yeshivá, shnorrer, rabino, halajá, Haskalá, maskil, etc. ¡Les aseguro que lo necesitaran!

¿Quiénes podrían encontrar este libro entretenido?. No todo el mundo, hay que reconocerlo. Yo no me conocía una pasión por la historia (como aficionado naturalmente) hasta que empece a leer novela histórica y de allí pase, casi sin pensarlo, a los libros de divulgación historiográfica. Pero no todos tenemos los mismos gustos, e incluso si los compartimos, no lo hacemos con la misma pasión. Este es un libro para quiénes como yo, encontramos sumamente "divertido" entender el origen de cosas que damos por sentado o que conocemos sin conocer realmente. La religión judía y sus "derivados", el cristianismo y el islam (¡me condenaran porque digo derivados) son justamente una de ellas.

Decime la verdad ¿qué es lo peor que tiene el libro?. La longitud de los capítulos. Siempre he considerado que no hay nada mejor para un lector que un libro que te ofrece pausas, que te regala pequeños triunfos imaginarios ("¡términe un nuevo capítulo!" "¡hoy leeré 5 capítulos"). Con "La historia de los judíos" no es posible. Los capítulos abarcan, el que menos, ¡más de 100 páginas! Para mí eso representaba 2 o 3 días de lectura (entre otras ocupaciones, naturalmente) y la posibilidad de perderme en el hilo de la historia.

Hay también muchos detalles de la historia que son un poco "irrelevantes" para quienes queremos una visión panorámica. Respeto, sin embargo, la elección del autor de profundizar en esos detalles: tal vez en una re lectura reconozca que todo era importante. Pero esos apartes, pueden hacer que muchos abandonden el libro, como debo confesar estuve tentado yo de hacerlo. Afortunadamente, la perseverancia, trae sus frutos (el último capítulo es particularmente útil para entender el conflicto árabe israelí que parece no tener un fin a la vista).

¿Cuál es la mejor parte?. Sin lugar a dudas, el principio, los dos primeros capítulos (es decir las primeras 250 páginas) que están dedicados a la historia antigua de los judíos. A mi me esclarecieron cantidades de cosas que creía saber sobre el origen no solo del judaísmo, sino también del cristianismo y el Islam. Mientras leía esos capítulos me compre mi primera biblia, especialmente para verificar las citas, conocer los libros de los que esta hecha (un aspecto muy interesante de la historia y la cultura de los judíos) y también, por qué no, para intentar leerla en algún momento.

¿Algún datico curioso que me anime a leer el libro?. ¿Uno? Tengo 200 etiquetas autoadhesivas pegadas en los bordes de las páginas. El libro abunda en datos curiosos, aclaración de ideas preconcebidas, nombres y lugares de los que pensabas cosas que no tienen nada que ver con la realidad.

Tal vez el que más me impresiono fue saber que los primeros antisemitas de la historia fueron los admiradísimos griegos. De ellos viene casi por línea directa, el odio irracional hacia los judío en el medio oriente en el tiempo del dominio romano y de allí se irradio a todos los pueblos que se alimentaron de esa fuente. De allí viene también el más "reciente" odio y persecución a los judíos en Rusia (donde hubo un Holocausto judío a fuego lento por casi un siglo).

En fin. Un libro, un autor ¡de todo mi gusto!. Quiénes me conocen y han seguido alguna de mis recomendaciones, no demoren en conseguir su ejemplar para "ponerlo en cola".

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very well done. The author seemed to mainain his objectivity, although that is always up for debate, I guess. I found the ancient history and the modern history equally enjoyable, perhaps because I have some basic knowledge in these areas, but the middle history (1000-1800) was pretty much all new to me and helps complete the picture. I remember a plant from my childhood that we called a "Wandering Jew" and I finally understand the meaning of this phrase (if not why it is applied to that particular plant!). This is definitely a history worth re-reading after a few months of thought.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first three parts of the book were very interesting and I especially enjoyed learning about the prophets as actual people, as well as all the variety of Jewish sects that sprung up in antiquity. Where the book runs out of steam starts in the fourth part, when he starts to get bogged down by continuous listings of dates and cities of expulsions and pogroms. We get it, already! Listing dates and locations doesn't make for an interesting book. He also gets bogged down with listing all these people we are supposed to know who were Jews, or Jews who weren't "Jews". These lists get extremely tiresome especially when there are things that are left out. Johnson also seems to loose focus as the book goes on jumping from topic to topic. It would seriously benefit from being broken into chapters within the different parts, then there wouldn't be these strained connections between paragraphs to bring us to new topics.

There is no mention of the historical placement of the story of Esther (perhaps there is no historical basis for it? I don't know, because it's not discussed). While Maimonides is well covered, I don't remember much discussed about Rashi (I could be mistaken, though). When discussed, Kabbalah seems to elicit a negative bias from the author. The Pittsburgh Platform and t'reifah banquet get all of a paragraph, even though they were defining moments in American Judaism and nothing is discussed about the Conservative Movement in America. Very little is revealed about jewish life under Islamic control, aside from listings of anti-Semitic laws, expulsions and killings. The book is very Euro-centric, so very little is discussed about the history of Jews in Africa, India, China, and Latin America (again, aside from expulsions and killings and airlifts to bring them to Israel).

So, it starts out great and interesting, but looses steam and focus and clarity.

[Goldy Kresch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a marvelous history - of a people who happen to share a name with mine but otherwise bear no resemblance to them. Johnson is a wonderful historian, but he clearly has never read the Talmud or Kabbalah. He writes of the rationalist and irrationalist strains of Judaism without realizing that Kabbalah - which he deems irrationalist- actually addresses some of philosophy's hardest questions and brilliantly refutes such notable philosophers like Aristotle and Spinoza. He assumes that the fringe radical groups of Jews are mainstream simply because they made the most noise. And he begins laying the foundations for Christianity (Johnson being a devout Christian) about six hundred years before Jesus. Every criticism he makes about Judaism is because he wants to solve it with Christianity.

And even more than these little errors, which can be forgiven, Johnson misses out on what is in my opinion the most crucial aspect of Judaism - our tradition. He does not mention the Shabbat zemirot that my father sings to the same tune his father sang, who sang it to the tune of his father, who sang it that way because that's how his father sang it. He doesn't talk about putting keys in our challah or dabbing the havdalah wine on our forehead or playing dreidel on Chanukah all because that's what our grandparents and great-grandparents did. And not every Jew has those customs, but they have their own that they do only because that is what their ancestors did. If Johnson mentions this, he does it without recognizing the value of our tradition, the richness of a culture accumulated slowly over thousands of years, and the importance of that culture even above the specific mitzvot. No history of the Jews is complete without our tradition - for this is the key to our survival, this thread that weaves us all together. The Jews of every generation have together created, through their unique history, this magnificent and colorful tapestry that someday I hope to add my story to.

[DC Palter · Rating 1 out of 5]

An evangelical Christian view of the Jewish history, working from the assumption that everything in the Bible is essentially true starting at least from Noah being a real person. (Since other ancient people in Mesopotamia had similar myths of a flood, it must be true, just as the Bible says!) It declares Abraham's story as fact since it seems realistic and goes from there. It's exceptionally long and poorly written, spending more time refuting anyone who calls these stories myth than trying to tell the tell the actual history of Jews and Judaism and discern that from the myths.

[Thomas Mulshine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and rather complete and sometimes complex review of the Jewish history. I would have given it five stars except for the reader which I found very hard to understand at times. Obviously I did not read this book but listened to it on audio.

[Regina Doman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Johnson ... ah, this man is a treasure. The only thing I can think of that comes close to being as good as reading a book by Paul Johnson is reading a book by David McCullough -- and I read David McCullough mainly to console myself after having finished another book by Paul Johnson.

Johnson brings a relentlessly moral worldview to his various surveys of history, and he has just enough difference in temperament and worldview from me to keep me reading critically. I have come to look forward to the slightly stressful but invigorating feeling of synapses being burned anew through my grey matter that comes over me when reading a Paul Johnson history.

This book was no exception. I read it last summer on vacation, and it was the best part of the vacation (which was a pleasant vacation!) mainly for the constant food for conversation which it gave me. I don't know if those who vacationed with me will share my enthusiasm for this book, but I very much enjoyed communicating my intellectual euphoria to them while I read it.

Becoming more deeply informed of the history of the Jewish people cannot but be an unpleasant experience for any reader of a serious Christian persuasion. Paul Johnson himself is a Catholic, but he, as usual, uses no whitewash when it comes to appraising the failures of his historical co-religionists. Johnson is fair, but unrelenting. What brought warmth to the book was his obvious admiration for the Jewish people, which I share.

Reading this book was in many ways like reading a secret history of the human race. Perhaps that's an unfortunate allusion, since the Jews have been the victims of more malicious conspiracy theories than any other group in human history. But still the notion persists: this was an inspiring and hopeful book because the secrets it told were GOOD secrets, secrets of unnoticed genius, unthanked charity, unremarked heroism.

It drove me to ponder my own fascination with the Jewish people, and I think for me it ties into my ongoing search for the face of God. If these are the Lord's chosen people, then is it too much to believe that these are the people who best reflect the qualities He personally enjoys? The dazzling intellect, the cleverness, the playfulness, and above all the gut-wrenching persistence and courage of so many of the Jewish people seems to trace a faint shadow of His personality on history. Have you never associated these characteristics with Jews? Then you don't know many Jews, either personally or in history. Which means you really, really need to read this book.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not just a history of the Jews. It is a history of Western Civilization. It covers so much, it is at times overwhelming. It is hard to sum up one’s response to a book that covers nearly 5000 years and every major event in the West. I can do no better than quote Johnson from his Epilogue: “It seems to be the role of the Jews to focus and dramatize these common experiences of mankind, and to turn their particular fate into a universal moral” and “The Jews believed they were a special people with such unanimity and passion, and over so long a span, that they became one. They did indeed have a role because they wrote it for themselves.” These lines succinctly and accurately sum up the book and Johnson’s approach on the history of Jews.

Johnson’s take is sympathetic and admiring. He is fascinated by the history he is telling and so the reader is fascinated as well. I do wish the parts where broken up in to chapters or sections to facilitate reading. This is not a book one reads in a sitting. Each part is a small book in itself, and so more natural breaks in the text would have helped. Johnson does an amazing job of integrating the history, of tracing lines from ancient Baghdad to modern Tel Aviv. Like any good long book, I am glad to have finished it, but I will miss it.

[Bradley Brincka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweeping and magisterial history elucidating the profound influence of Jewish thought and creativity on civilization from Antiquity to the present.

[Jorge Matte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro de Historia muy bien documentado y no una historia novelada.
Por el hecho, de ser un libro de historia, el tema está bien relatado, con agilidad y bien escrito por el historiador inglés Paul Johnson.
No es un libro para leerlo muy de corrido porque entrega mucha información , datos , hechos y nombres que uno debe ir procesando.
Es el recorrido de 4.000 años de historia del pueblo Judío.
Desde las historias relatadas en el Pentateuco y su correlación histórica hasta finales del siglo XX.
Yo aprendí mucho sobre el sentido de comunidad , la sabiduría , erudición, la importancia del estudio de las escrituras, los conceptos del sionismo, progromos y un gran etcétera.
Vale la pena leerlo y uno se entusiasma para seguir leyendo otras cosas sobre el tema.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recuerdo que a medida que lo leía todas las piezas sueltas del puzle judío que los cristianos solemos conocer superficialmente, iban encajando a la perfección. De lectura muy fluida. Recomendado a quienes quieran conocer el periplo de este pueblo hasta nuestros días.

[Kaitlin Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly detailed yet comprehensive guide to the history of the Jews, starting with Genesis and heading up through the creation of Israel. It details these constant nomads experiences though the early possession of Israel, to the diaspora, to settling throughout Europe and the persecution that found them there. The creation of Israel i found particularly fascinating.

It's a long book, and there was a lot, I'll admit, I didn't absorb as much as I'd have liked but it's an excellent tool to learning more about the history and plight of the Jews.

[Susana González · Rating 2 out of 5]

Para empezar, me ha costado más de tres meses leer este libro y he estado tentada de dejarlo varias veces, aunque odio dejar libros a medias (creo que eso ya dice mucho).

No obstante, no todo es malo. Lo mejor es que habla la Torá (o Antiguo Testamento) dándonos a conocer los hechos históricos que se narran en ella. Sí, porque se cree que todo en la Bliblia es inventado, pero, en realidad, está basado en hechos que ocurrieron, aunque novelados y sectarios. Los "milagros" no son tal, sino hechos hoy en día demostrados científicamente. Por ejemplo, las "plagas" de Egipto: sí ocurrieron, pero no fueron "plagas", sino catástrofes consecuencia de una super erupción del volcán Thera, en el actual archipiélago de Santorini, que colapsó la antigua isla, cambió su geografía y hasta el clima y causó una nube tóxica que provocó todas las calamidades calificadas como "plagas". Para los que estén poniendo el grito en el cielo, piensen que es como un libro o una película "basada en hechos reales": los hechos ocurrieron, pero el que los narra no estuvo allí, se basa en relatos de testigos (fiableso no), informes policiales o médicos, artículos periodísticos... y a veces incluso en historias que son "vox populi" pero no están registradas en ningún sitio. Además, la realidad pura y dura atrae menos que la novelada.

El autor fundamenta la existencia de de los patriarcas bíblicos y sus historias en evidencias arqueológicas, aunque éstas nos descubren que no todo es como se cuenta en la Biblia. Asimismo, al hablar de los hechos acaecidos en el Nuevo Testamento, también se basa en los escritos de historiadores griegos y romanos de la época de Jesús, que dejaron testimonio de muchos de los hechos relatados (aparte de los contados por los apóstoles, que son más bien novelados).

Hasta aquí, todo iba bien, pero a partir de la Edad Media me da la impresión de que el autor se vuelve menos objetivo. Da una importancia extraordinaria a las muertes de judíos en España, donde los judíos sefardíes fueron expulsados y sólo unos pocos miles murieron en el S.XVI, mientras que pasa de puntillas por otros países de Europa en los que estuvieron matando judíos sistemáticamente hasta el S.XIX (sobre todo Alemania y Rusia).

En el capítulo dedicado al Holocausto se olvida de contar que Stalin era igual de antisemita que Hitler (de hecho a principios de la II Guerra Mundial eran aliados y después cambió de bando) y que en esta guerra, en los países comunistas murieron más judíos a manos de estalinistas que de alemanes.También se olvida que durante la dictadura de Stalin matar judíos sistemáticamente en Rusia (alegando cualquier causa peregrina, como el "Complot de los médicos"), se convirtió en una costumbre y los judíos no tenían posibilidad de escapar, como en la Edad Media, porque no les dejaban. Se olvida del genocidio de Ucrania, donde murieron casi 5 millones de personas y la comunidad judía era de las más numerosas. Y también se olvida de que Stalin proyectó deportar a todos los judíos (1 millón de personas) a un campo de muerte (el gulag de Birobidzhan), lo que se llamaba el 2º Holocausto que, gracias a que murió mientras lo planeaba, no se llevó a cabo.

Aparte de estas subjetividades, lo peor es que le sobran unas 500 páginas. Hay páginas y páginas que son un censo de judíos desconocidos, nombres, familiares, datos, a qué se dedicaban... su vida entera (aunque eran personas de escaso interés para la historia). También se habla de cada progromo o expulsión concienzudamente (aunque algunas se les olvidan, como hemos visto antes). Todo ésto hace el libro muy, muy pesado porque tanto detalle no aporta nada al relato.

Los capítulos están ordenados cronológicamente, pero en muchas ocasiones, el autor salta de una época a otra, hacia atrás y hacia adelante, sin ningún sentido.

Por último, creo que una historia tan interesante como la del pueblo judío podría haber dado lugar a una buena narración, con pasión, drama, felicidad, amor... pero en vez de ésto parece que cada página ha sido sacada de una fuente distinta y se han unido de cualquier manera.

[Ferda Nihat Koksoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Yahudilikte Sevilenler:
BİLGİ'ye sarsılmaz düşkünlük, ELEŞTİRİ (Yahudi ebediyen eleştiren ve itiraz eden kişidir), MAHKEME/adalet geleneği, ENTELEKTÜEL MUHAKEME sürecinin yüksek önemi, bilginin paylaşımı, İYİ EĞİTİM, tarih ve tıp bilme, çok çalışma, kitap okuma/yazma, ticaret, vergi-yardım, para, aile.

-Yahudilikte Lanetlenenler:
Öldürme (en büyük günah), intihar, ölüm riski alma, mahrumiyet, Ruh/beden ayrımı, münzevilik/manastır, içki yasağı, tek kişi hakimiyeti, vergi vermeme, kölelik.

-Genel özellikler:
Olağanüstü UYUM yeteneği; bir yerde kolayca kök saldıktan sonra, şartlara göre bu köklerini başka yere TAŞIMA sebat ve becerisi; YÜKTE HAFİF PAHADA AĞIR EŞYA nakletme geleneği; YAZMA'ya tutkuyla bağlılık; EDEBİYAT'a bağlılık ve onu kolektif eğitim ve denetim aracı olarak kullanmak; TARİH yazıcılığı ve TIP geleneği; yürürlükte olandan daha ÜSTÜN AHLÂKÎ bir gücün var olduğunu anlayabilen İSYANKÂR bir halk; BİREYSEL SORUMLULUK'un büyük önemi.

-Yahudilik RUH/BEDEN ayrımını reddeder ve hıristiyanlıktaki bedenin oruç ile zayıflatılması sırasında ruhun güçlenmesi fikrini lanet addeder.

-Yahudiler, Anglo-Amerikalıların, ENTELEKTÜEL kapasitenin, kitaplara ve OKUMAYA aşırı düşkünlüğün insanın görev yapma gücünü zayıflattığı fikrine hiçbir zaman katılmadılar.

-EYLEMİ İÇİNDE TAŞIYAN EĞİTİM ve eğitmenlerin idareciliği (KATEDOKRASİ) en önemli toplumsal unsurlardan birisidir.

****

-Tarih boyunca Ur, Babil, İskenderiye, Roma, Floransa, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla, Köln, Augsburg, Bologna, Venedik, Krakow, Prag, Selanik, Amsterdam, Anvers, Londra ve şimdilerde N. York, en fazla Yahudi nüfusu barındıran, en azından gettolar kurdukları kentlerdir.

-M.Ö. 1. yy. katliamlarında, dünyada mevcut 8 milyon Yahudi'nin 1 milyonu yok edilmiştir.

-Magna Carta sırasında ve sonrasında bile (13. yy) Britanya'daki Yahudilerin yüzlercesi asılmış, sahip olduklarına el konulmuş ve kalanlar ülkeden kovulmuşlardır (mülk edinmeleri 655'de Cromwell yasayı kaldırıncaya dek süren yasaktır).

-13., 14. ve 15. yy'da Avrupa'da ortaya çıkan veba ve diğer ölümcül hastalıkların, ekonomik sorunların nedeni olarak Yahudiler gösterilmiş ve çok ağır şiddete uğratılmış ve bir çok kentten sürülmüşlerdir: Viyana, Köln, Augsburg, Bologna, Peruggia, Parma, Milano, Lucca, Roma ve Floransa (en bilineni 1492-İspanya: Toledo, Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba).

-Protestan lider Luther 15. yy.da yüksek faiz/tefecilikleri nedeniyle Yahudilerin Alman topraklarından kovulmasını isterken, diğer Protestan öncü Calvin ise faizle de olsa para sağladıkları için onlara karşı iyi duygular beslemiştir.

-17. yy. ve sonrasında yerleştikleri ve ticari canlılık sağladıkları Amsterdam, Anvers, Londra ve N. York kentlerinde de eskisi gibi devlet içinde küçük devletler (gettolar) kurmuşlar ve bu kentleri dünyanın en önemli kentleri haline getirdiler.

-12. yy. da Maimonnides, 17. yy. da ise Spinoza, Avrupa düşünce dünyasının temel taşları olarak kendilerinden sonra gelenleri büyük ölçüde etkilemişlerdir.

-300 yıl kadar köle ticaretinde kullanılan bu kovulmuş Yahudilerin bir kısmı Osmanlı topraklarına kabul edilmiş (özellikle Selanik: 1553'de 20.000 nüfusuyla en geniş Yahudi kentlerinden biri), büyük çoğunluğu ise zaten en çok Yahudi barındıran Polonya topraklarına (başta Krakow olmak üzere) ve kuzey-doğu Avrupa'ya göç etmişlerdir.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This caught me up on Biblical mumbo jumbo, the dawn of rabbinism, all the juicy violent tidbits about the Spanish Inquisition, Russian pogroms, French conspiracy theory, and Holocaust. Finally it updated my about the origins of Zionism, and helped my have a deeper understanding of the ongoing Arab/Israeli conflict. This book does seem to have a Jewish favoritism thing going on...yet it was written by a Christian. You sort of get to see the dilemma of the religion of Judaism, and the race of Jews, whose culture has been formulated by years of oppression, and a race who has been fine-tuned into a lot of tenacious, faithful survivors and geniuses.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paul Johnson’s epic-length ‘A History of the Jews’ is the very definition of a curate’s egg - good, in parts. But it is also very bad in other places.

On the whole, it has been a slow but enjoyable read. Johnson offers remarkable and candid reflection on critical moments in the rich, often painful, history of Judaism and Jewish people. He gives a vast overview of some three thousand years of history, theology and politics, providing me with much greater insight into a topic I always wished I knew more about. Johnson’s overarching thesis is that the modern world (that is, modern in the post-enlightenment sense) generally owes a great deal to Judaism, the enlightenment borrowing so heavily from the same rational ethics that underpinned Jewish theology. In this sense, Johnson is effective in demonstrating the reach and impact of Jewish contributions to world history - even if he does, at times, try to over-rationalise these elements (eg. his assertion Jews ‘invented’ monotheism, or his attempts to read the early prophets allegorically).

Yet the book also suffers from some significant faults that take away from its merits. In places, Johnson commit historical oversights and falls into crass generalisations that demonstrate a perhaps less-than-familiar grasp with some of the finer issues he tackles. In some instances, his errors are hardly important (eg. his assertion Louis Mayer made Birth of a Nation, when he merely was the first to screen it). In other instances, however, the author falls into orientalist misrepresentations and stereotypes that implicitly paint a contemptible picture of Arabs and (sometimes even) Jews themselves compared to their European Christian counterparts. The points I want to focus on relate to four specific aspects, where I hope these contentions will be greater evident.


The Abrahamic Faiths

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the book was reading about Jewish theological, political and clerical history, where I saw many overlaps with Islamic ideals. Of particular interest were the pictures given of the lives of the later prophets (particularly Hosea and Isiah), and also Johnson’s sketches of early Christian movements prior to its ultimate break with Judaism over the issue of Jesus’s divinity. Particularly, the implications that ‘Christianity’ as we know it now is largely based more on Pauline theology (and Paul’s interpretation of Jesus’s teachings) than the teachings of Jesus directly. Indeed, early Christians likely called themselves Jews (p.133). As Johnson writes, the effect of the breach between the two was to ‘concentrate Christian belief still more fiercely on Paul’s presentation of Christ’s death and resurrection as the mechanism of salvation - itself clearly foreshadowed in Jesus’ teaching - and on the nature of this anointed saviour’ (144).

This book has also, ironically, imbued me with a greater understanding of the most basic tenets of Christian theology (despite my own Christian upbringing). In contrast to what had become the rigid and legalistic Jewish tradition - in Johnson’s words, the ‘rigorous enforcement of Mosaic law’ (132) - Jesus taught faith as the key to salvation, not (what was in the Christian view) mere obedience to the law. This message was taken further by Paul, but with Johnson sternly warning that ‘to say that Paul preached salvation by grace as opposed to salvation through works’ is a ‘crude oversimplification’ (131).

In this sense, such an understanding of Jesus’s teaching compliments the Islamic view of Prophets as guides for humanity who bring us back to what Imam ash-Shatibi characterises as the ‘Tariqu-l-Wasit’ (the middle path). Johnson’s further descriptions of the development of contemporary Jewish orthodoxy, through the Mishnah, in the first centuries of the millenium speak to the strength of Judaism’s combination of ‘moral and ethical teaching with the practical exercise of civil and criminal jurisprudence’ which ‘gave to the Jews a moral and social world-view which is civilized and practical and proved extremely durable’ (154).

Such a worldview also evokes comparisons to Islamic ethics - particularly the synthesis between what we might now call liberalism (that is, emphasis on the individual and their unique value in the world) and the interconnected nature of humanity. Liberalism tends to falsely portray individual and group identities as two distinguishable, binary values. Yet the Jewish demonstrated no such dichotomising was necessary.

In one passage, Johnson’s quotes from the Mishnah to elaborate on this nuance. The quote he chooses literally (though unintentionally) echoes the Qur’an - ‘It was an important principle of the Mishnah that each man is a symbol of all humanity, and whoever destroys one man, he destroys, in a sense, the principle of life, just as, if he saves one man, he rescues humanity’ (155). In another instance, he refers to the shared Abrahamic value that one must always bear witness and protest against evil and injustice.

Yet, in this otherwise illuminating chapter on the Jewish roots of the Abrahamic religions, Johnson mistakenly argues Islam was a heterodox offshoot of Judaism. In my attempt to gain clarification over why he argued this, I discovered this contention is seemingly based on his narrow sources (the bibliography cites Bat Ye’or, infamous for her ‘Dhimmitude’ theory criticised by even Bernard Lewis). This claim ultimately derives from the largely outmoded Hagarist scholarship of academics like Patricia Crone and Michael Cook. Yet, utilising this source, Johnson seems to fail to recognise that Hagarism is a historiographical exercise, not strict history. The central methodology of Hagarism is to disregard the Islamic primary texts in order to build an alternative theory of Islam’s origins. But none of these limitations are acknowledged, and unfortunately Johnson simply presents the ‘offshoot’ theory as historical fact. He does this in spite of presenting the Jewish and Christian primary texts as historical fact.


Antisemitism

Arguably, one of the book’s strongest aspects is its consideration of how various antisemitic trends developed throughout history. Johnson spends time discussing how ancient Hellenic antisemitism was inherited by Egyptian elites intent on securing temporal rule over Israelite territories. He also discusses in detail the roots of anti-semitic conspiracies like the Blood Libel (the disappearance of a Christian boy in Medieval England, the kidnapping and murder of whom the family’s Jewish servants were accused of) and the Elders of Zion (related to consultations between the French revolutionary government and Jewish clerics). But his most astute observation was in his description of the apparent ‘secularisation’ of anti-semitism during the enlightenment.

Drawing on eighteenth century of eighteenth century philosophers like Voltaire, Johnson describes how, while enlightenment ideals of civic citizenship and liberalism offered Jews an escape from the stigma attached to their identity, the rational critique of religion offered by those same thinkers contributed to a new degradation of Jews as an ethnic group, not just a religious group. Voltaire, for instance, calls them ‘a totally ignorant nation who for many years have combined contemptible miserliness and the most revolting superstition with a violent hatred of all those nations which have tolerated them’ (308-9).

The writing of Baron d’Holbach ‘went much further [...] he portrayed Moses as the author of a cruel and bloodthirsty system which had corrupted Christian society too but had turned the Jews into ‘the enemies of the human race [who] have always displayed contempt for the clearest dictates of morality and the law of nations…. They were ordered to be cruel, inhuman, intolerant, thieves, traitors and betrayers of trust’ (309).

Johnson goes on to explain: ‘works of Voltaire and his colleagues were the title-deeds, the foundation documents, of the modern European intelligentsia, and it was a tragedy for the Jews that they contained a virulently anti-Semitic clause [...] On top of the pagan plinth and the Christian main storey there was now placed a secular superstructure [which] ensured that hatred of the Jews, so long kept alive by Christian fanaticism, would now survive the decline of the religious spirit’ (309). Jews were now not only portrayed as enemies of Christ, but enemies of ‘civility’.


Marxism

One of the book’s most interesting aspects is the time Johnson spends analysing the development of Marxism in the mid-nineteenth century. The author is markedly successful in demonstrating antisemitic streaks in Karl Marx’s early theory. I make no apology for Marx’s antisemitism. From a strictly theoretical perspective, however, Johnson provides a far too crude oversimplification of Marxist thought.

As he argues, Marx drew on tropes relating to corrupted Jewish moneylenders, but disguised his prejudice by portraying his theory as one against ‘capital’ (for Johnson, read: The Jew). Johnson lacks clarity when he asserts: ‘Marx retained the original superstition that the making of money through trade and finance is essentially a parasitical and anti-social activity, but he now placed it on a basis not of race and religion, but of class’ (352).

This misunderstands the impact of Marxist theory. Irrespective of Marx’s own antisemitism (which we can readily accept from primary sources), historiography is greatly indebted to Conflict Theory and Historical Materialism, derived from Marxian thought. In this sense, I would argue Johnson is unfair when he claims ‘socialism became the anti-Semitism of intellectuals’ (353). He too readily equates all socialist thought (quite a vast body of theories) with antisemitism without reflecting on former’s significant influence on Labour Zionism and the development of the Israeli economy.

To his credit, Johnson does spend some time later dealing with Jewish Marxist intellectuals. Though, somewhat in contradiction to his earlier equation of socialism with antisemitism, he asserts Jews overwhelmingly moved to the left of the political spectrum at least in part because of the ‘Biblical tradition of social criticism [...] articulate Jews [always] determined to expose the injustices of society’ (354-5). And, if that doesn’t suffice as evidence of his argument’s internal contradictions, he also argues: ‘Jews who became socialists in the nineteenth century and who attacked the unequal distribution of wealth produced by liberal, laissez-faire capitalism were expressing in contemporary language Jewish principles which were 3,000 years old and which had become part of the instincts of the people’ (355). Johnson seems to fail to recognise this is also the central principle to Marx’s Capital.

N.B. In a related, though separate, point, he mislabels prominent Marxist theorist Rosa Luxemburg a ‘non-Jewish Jew’, a claim that has been significantly challenged (see: https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/2119...).


Role of Arabs in WW1 & The Emergence of Zionism

Unfortunately, it is in this aspect that Johnson’s reliance on outmoded, orientalist scholarship comes out the most.

One of the most significant factual errors he commits in his final two chapters ‘Holocaust’ and ‘Zion’ comes in his comparison of Zionist and Arab lobbying efforts in World War 1. These relate to the actions of the Imperial Powers (British & French). Johnson’s arguments should be presented in full:

‘There were also stirrings of opposition from Arab interests, or those government departments which represented them. But the Arabs had been slow to get moving, had contributed nothing of substance to the war effort, and their ‘Arab Revolt’ had been unimpressive’ (429).

…

‘If the Arabs as a whole had been properly organized diplomatically during the war - if the Palestine Arabs had been organized at all - there is not the slightest doubt that the [Balfour] Declaration would never have been issued. Even twelve months later it would not have been possible’ (430).


On the first claim, it is true many more Arabs fought with the Ottomans in WW1 than against them. But the nearly 50,000 men comprising Faysal ibn Husayn’s Arab contingency would likely be dumbfounded to see their efforts so readily dismissed. Furthermore, Johnson offers no substantiation to further his claim the Arab Revolt was unimpressive. This claim is in spite of the fact it was the Arab campaign which secured the territory now comprising Israel-Palestine for Britain.

Johnson’s second claim is simply incorrect. Firstly the term ‘Arabs as a whole’ neglects the fact that such terms - comprising, as they do, vast ethnic groups - were inventions encompassing heterogeneous populations. Such terminology can often inaccurately essentialise these groups, portraying them as a monolithic bloc when they are not. For one person, an Arab is someone from Arabia. To another it is anyone living in the lands formerly under Umayyad or Abbasid rule. For another, it is someone who is genetically derived from the Arabian tribes during the Prophet’s times. This is perhaps a relatively minor objection, but it figures into a wider discourse Johnson employs here - one that essentially ignores or downplays the aspirations and grievances of ‘Arab’ populations in the aftermath of WW1.

Secondly, Arabs (not some essentialised, collective ‘The Arabs’) WERE diplomatically organised during the war. Johnson fails to mention the 1915 McMahon correspondence which promised (albeit vaguely) Arab ‘independence’ on condition Sharif Husayn of Makkah organised a force to help the British war effort in the Middle East (the Arab Revolt). Similarly, he completely disregards the Syrian National Coalition, organised in the context of the Paris Peace Conference to act in the interests of populations encompassing modern-day Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel-Palestine.

The Coalition (or Congress) argued for self-rule within an independent Kingdom of Syria under the League of Nations covenant, which stated the ‘wishes of [the former Ottoman] communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory’. But this wish was ignored by the Western powers. Nonetheless, the organisation of the Coalition/Congress demonstrates Johnson’s complete lack of understanding of post-war Arab diplomatic efforts.

If Johnson could be forgiven for this oversight, his doubling-down on misunderstanding history continues not long after when he says, ‘the mandate [imposed in Palestine] was born in...a time when it was widely assumed that universal ideals and the ties of human brotherhood could overcome the more ancient and primitive sources of discord’ (439). He continues, ‘The Arabs already constituted several states; soon there would be many. The Jews had none’ (439).

In the above quotations there are too many misrepresentations to deal with sufficiently in the space remaining. Suffice it to say that, while admittedly the aspirations of Arabs living within the land known then as Palestine were couched in pan-Arab language, Johnson misunderstands their struggle as simply one of identity. Indeed, identity is the key aspect. But such a notion that a self-identified Arab should be happy to live in, or grateful for the existence of, any self-identifying Arab state, ignores the fact that nobody should be expected to forego their homes (I mean literal homes and communities, not large imagined nations). Yet Johnson expects the world to divide neatly into homogenous states, whereby each ‘nation’ can control their designated patch. This fundamentally misgraps human anthropology and the complex nature of ethnic identity.

Put simply: the aim of Palestinians was not merely to exercise their ethnic identity at the state level (that is, as a national identity), rather, this was the means through which they defended their right to self-identification within their own communities. But Johnson takes the line Britain did in its justification for imposing Mandatory rule over the territory - that ‘the Arabs’ will one day be grateful, for they will see the benefits brought to their society. This view taken while simultaneously denying the self-organised Arab bloc the representation awarded under the League of Nations Covenant. Indeed, Cabinet documents from 1923 attest to the fact Britain recognised this very contradiction at the heart of its Mandate.

If Johnson’s orientalism is still in doubt, his contentions that ‘The Arabs...were a conquering race whose sacred writings both inspired and reflected a maximalist position towards other peoples’ (530) and his essentialised account of the Jewish ‘philosophy of negotiation’ due to the history of antisemitism (529) should leave little doubt.



On the whole, the book suffers from some serious faults. It is largely comprehensive, dense, and detailed. But the problems detailed above lead me to conclude that ultimately it must be handled with care. Any readers serious on grasping the finer points are advised to consult further sources.

[Sudeshna Bora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Johnson has comprehensively chronicled the journey of the Jews in this mere 644 paged book. Given the fact that he has captured about 4000 years of world history focussing on the Jews, this is a commendable feat in itself. This book starts at a time when the Jews didn't even call themselves that and ends at the 1970's. This book takes us back to about a few dozens of years before collective Jewish faith started being adopted.
Paul Johnson has divided this book into seven logical subparts namely Israelites, Judaism, Cathedocracy, Ghetto, Emancipation, Holocaust and Zion with each part dealing with an essential aspect of Jewish history.
Personally, for me, this book did not start as a favourite. I had so much difficulty reading the initial few parts that I almost chucked it away. The writer in the beginning parts relies heavily on the old testament and uses it as a point of truth and as history. Being from a non-Abrahamic religion and having no prior contact with Abrahamic stories, it was challenging for me to make sense of the references he was using (I relied heavily on Wikipedia to understand what each story meant or get a geographic idea of the texts he was using). Also, I felt the author assumes his audience is already aware of the conception of Jewish faith and this makes it extremely difficult for a beginner to this subject to understand what he is trying to say. Adding to this, he considered these stories and events to be history which was unpalatable for me because of the cultural and demographic differences we have had.
Though these issues mostly resolved itself as we progress into the later parts, one theme that remains constant throughout the book was eurocentrism. I always felt an insidious undercurrent of condescension to be present, be it for the non-Abrahamic European/middle eastern culture or to polytheism. Paul Johnson does not even acknowledge the existence of Asian culture and religious philosophy. I do realise that these topics are outside the scope of this book, but you cannot claim a philosophy to be superior or the best in this world without analysing or even mentioning other philosophies. It is as if these philosophies either didn't exist or is not worth mentioning.

Now moving towards the positives, this book provides a very unbiased opinion about the Jewish issue. Unlike what I feared, this book does not paint the Jews into victimhood; the writer also draws light to the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the Jewish faith, that always kept them aloof of the contemporary cultures in Europe and America and may have contributed (not a justification to the fate meted out to them) to some prevalent anti-semitic feelings. I also feel that the time given to each topic is extremely balanced. Another beautiful aspect of this book is its continuity. The author seamlessly transits from one point to the other and it makes reading this tome very convenient. The opinions that the author provides coupled with the flow of the narration makes it the highlight of this book.

So, in summary, the pros and cons of this book would be:-

Pros:
1. A comprehensive analysis of the Jewish journey for anyone who wants to know everything about them.
2. Beautiful continuity between chapters and topics.
3. The insights provided by the authors are the USP of this book.

Cons:-
1. An extremely steep learning curve for a complete beginner (at least the inception part).
2. Found it eurocentric and may touch a wrong cord for non-European readers.
3. Not an easy read for a casual enthusiast about the topic. The reader needs to be motivated or passionate about the topic to be able to finish this.

In conclusion, I feel people who want to know about the history of the Jews need to give this book a try. I also personally think that as the book finishes its narration at the 1970s, we may need a new chapter to cover half a century that has passed since the last chapter was written , though that does not seem plausible given the age of the writer.

Happy reading!

[Tomislav · Rating 2 out of 5]

A flawed book with surprisingly high ratings. The first chapters are the weakest, offering romanticized commentaries on biblical stories that certainly cannot pass as serious, scholarly history. These are followed by a more conventional historical analysis, spanning from the late antiquity to the twentieth century. Large sections of the book focus on notable Jewish individuals, while other parts cover religious and intellectual history. The quality is uneven; some sections are worth reading, but numerous dubious and exaggerated claims undermine the overall credibility. I'm not convinced that figures like Spinoza, Marx, Freud, and Einstein can be fully explained through references to Judaism, Kabbalah, and Jewish culture. While a focus on these elements is expected in a book about Jews, Johnson seems overeager, resulting in a text that feels simplistic, narrow, and tendentious. Some of his attempts at profundity might work as amusing jokes in a Philip Roth novel or a Woody Allen movie, but they come off as strange in this book. While I often find dry historical narratives about pots and textiles tedious, they are still preferable to unreliable personal opinions presented as historiography. Given the book's length, title, and ratings, I expected more level-headed writing. It is not a completely bad book, but it is certainly disappointing.

[Gene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Johnson only recently passed away, but re-reading his A History of the Jews reminded me what a fine historian he is. Though a thick book and detailed, it was not heavy or hard to push through. His tale begins with the earliest times and the accounts of the beginning of this special people with Abraham and his descendants. I was a bit troubled by his partial embrace of higher criticism that views much of the early stories in the Bible as at least partly mythical and not concrete history. Be that as it may, he goes less far in that direction than most modern historians, and goes to pains to show how much of the history was actually confirmed by modern archaeology in the previous two centuries.

It was instructive to see the events of the entering of the Promised Land, the establishment of a kingdom, and eventual captivity and return through his eyes. He also takes a great effort to show the way Christianity grew out of Judaism and how Judaism was transformed when the temple was destroyed. The great minds that analyzed the Law and other writings were presented in a way that helps the reader grow to deeply admire their dedication to their beliefs, even under persecution.

Speaking of persecution, it was painful to read of the mistreatment of Jews at the hands of Christians and the Church throughout the centuries. I was shamed as I was reminded of the guilt of many of my predecessors in the Christian faith, men who otherwise would seem to be great scholars and devout, but who could not see the evil in how they treated these fellow believers in Jehovah. It's the same shame I feel in response to accounts of slavery in the United States and the genocidal treatment of Native Americans at the hands of Christian Europeans in North America, as well as the horror of abortion in our world today. I hang my head and pray for the grace to never be so blind to the suffering of others or the injustices committed by myself, my people, or my country.

There was a haunting section reviewing the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews and examining how such a thing could have happened in perhaps the most civilized and advanced nation in Europe. This was penned by Johnson in the 1980s, so he could not have been pointing knowingly at our times and current events, but what he saw as paving the way for it certainly relates to our modern world. He pointed to the power of the bureaucracy, the complicity of corporations, the cooperation of schools, and the indoctrination through the media. "If it be asked: how could such nonsense be widely believed in a highly education nation like Germany, the answer is that Hitler never found any difficulty in acquiring intellectual backing, albeit sometimes oblique, for his views." "Indeed, the German academy, taken as a whole, far from acting as a barrier to Hitlerism, assisted its progress to power." "The climate of actual violence which nourished Nazism was itself sustained by growing verbal and pictorial violence in the media." These blocks of society, working together, can change the outlook of an entire country and foist irrational beliefs on a gullible public who are told to rely on experts and "trust the science." A healthy skepticism of what these agents in collaboration are trying to convince us of needs to be encouraged. Instead, we have efforts to silence countering opinions and insist on conformity of opinion, and this could eventually lead to similar hideous outcomes.

Another thing that caught my attention was that some of the strongest Antisemitism came from Jews who had turned their backs on their religion. They were bitter for what they considered their Judaism costing them. I sense a similar trend today in youth who grew up in the church and reject it. They are the most vehement opponents of the church today and look to see it opposed and silenced, especially in light of Evangelicals, Catholics, and Orthodox believers who hold the line against sanctioning homosexual behaviour and gay marriage, as well as transgenderism. The loudest voices I've noticed opposed to traditional sexual morality are not from the non-religious, but from the converts into none-ism who are angry at the Christian faith for what they see as ruining their childhoods. Will an increasingly anti-religious America eventual turn to persecution of its Christian faithful? It's not as unthinkable to me now in the light of what adherents to Judaism experienced in Europe.

I recommend this book be read slowly and reflectively, both to enjoy the beauty of the prose, but also to allow the experiences of the past to sink into our thinking and guide our thoughts about how we treat those in the minority in our societies.

[Socrate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evreii sunt cel mai tenace popor din istorie. Hebron este o dovadă concretă. Este situat la 32 de kilometri de Ierusalim, la 1.000 de metri înălţime, pe dealurile Iudeei. Acolo, în peştera Macpela, se găsesc mormintele patriarhilor. Conform tradiţiei străvechi, un cavou în stâncă, el însuşi foarte vechi, adăposteşte rămăşiţele pământeşti ale lui Avraam, fondatorul religiei iudaice şi strămoş al colectivităţii iudaice. Alături de mormântul lui se află cel al Sarrei, soţia lui. în acelaşi loc se găsesc mormintele îngemănate al fiului său, Isaac, şi al soţiei sale, Rebeca. De partea cealaltă a curţii interioare - alte două morminte, al lui Iacov, nepotul lui Avraam, şi al soţiei lui, Lea. Iar în faţa construcţiei este îngropat fiul lor, Iosif. Aici a început - în măsura în care poate fi fixată în timp - istoria de patru mii de ani a evreilor. Hebron este de o frumuseţe măreaţă şi venerabilă. Oferă pacea
şi liniştea ce pot fi adesea găsite în sanctuarele antice.