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.
Paul Johnson says that writing A History of the Jews was like writing a history of the world "seen from the viewpoint of a learned and intelligent victim." Johnson's history begins with the Bible and ends with the establishment of the State of Israel. Throughout, Johnson's history is driven by a philosophical interest: "The Jews," he writes, "stand right at the centre of the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of a purpose. Does their own history suggest that such attempts are worth making? Or does it reveal their essential futility?" Johnson's history is lucid, thorough, and--as one would expect of almost any project with such a broad scope--a little wrong-headed. By the end of the book, readers will be grateful for Johnson's questioning of the Jews' confidence in their cosmic significance. However, readers may also be a little annoyed by his energetic inquiries as to whether this significance was man-made or providentially provided. Either way, it's a given: for a historian of Israel, this should adequately settle the question. Johnson's 600-page history is probably the best we've got by a living gentile--which is no small accomplishment at all. --Michael Joseph Gross
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Yikes! in a good way:
Good book, hard read. It's filled with detailed information. . It's a miracle that I even finished it.
Propaganda not history:
I regret having wasted my money on this book. I based my purchase on the overall 4.5 star rating and maybe reading a few 5 star reviews. While the 1-2 star naysayers are a minority here, in this case they are right. If Mr. Johnson is right in his assertion that the old testament is historically accurate, then I'd be better off just reading the bible.
Not THE History of the Jews:
The title apologises in advance for the narative. The book is a reflection of how one man tries to make sense of what the Bible says and the popular opinion of historians. Paul Johnson sides with contmporary opinion. His loyaly is with current academia and not with Bible accounts requiring faith. In this he succeeds. This is not a book to build your faith in the Torah. It is merely eloquent and well written contemporary historical opinion attmpting to explain the Torah. It seldomly requires the reader to... more info
Good, but 100% biased:
I read this good book, here in Brazil.This book describes the history of jews since thousands of years ago, until some decades ago.
The main problem of this book is to be very biased.Critics to jews are almost never showed.The jews seems to be (almost)ever correct.
In Roman Empires, the author shows the jewish revolt as a failure, but he forgets the fact, that revolt wasn't just a bloodfull failure, but also a mistake.The massive support of famous and powerfull jews to communism(many countries),... more info
