When this encyclopedic history of the Jews was first published in 1958, it was hailed as one of the great works of its kind, a study that not only chronicled an assailed and enduring people, but assessed its astonishing impact on the modern world. Now this scholarly and comprehensive book has been massively revised and updated by its author, a professor of modern history at the George Washington University and one of the most respected authorities on the lives and times of the Jewish people.
The new edition casts additional light on the milestones of the Jewish saga from the eighteenth century to the close of the twentieth: the Jews' emergence from the ghetto and into the heart of Western society, the debate between the voices of tradition, assimilation, and Zionism; virtual destruction during the Holocaust; and troubled rebirth in Israel. Here, too, are evocative portraits of today's disapora, from the Jews of America to the embattled communities of the former Soviet Union and the Third World.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
old and outdated:
Buyer beware: this is an older edition of A History of the Jews in the Modern World by Sachar. You needn't purchase both, as Amazon bundled them.
Impressive, but not faultless...:
OK, look, this is a very impressive volume. Clearly written and quite a nice over-view. But I have to say the sections on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust were pathetic. The author briefly mentions The Warsaw ghetto uprising, and a few words about Hannah Senesh, but that's about it. He doesn't even mention the uprisinsg at Treblinka and Sobibor, the fighters of Vilna or Lodz, or the amazing and daring feats of a Jewish patisans in the woods throughout Europe. He also fails to mention that the... more info
Clearly written and an excellent fundamental text:
This work is a must for all persons interested in the dialectical evolution of the Jewish people. The language is simple and Sachar is wonderfully articulate and easy to read. Sachar covers a wide breadth of subtopics and countries in the social and geopolitical history of the Jewish people. While some of the criticisms in the earlier reviews may be true re: factual inconsistencies; the book nevertheless is an excellent introduction to neophytes or to those with an interest in Jewish history. In this... more info
This is a highly biased book.:
While it is quite normal for authors of Jewish History to take sides, unfortunately in this book the author gives such a distorted view that it is in many cases misleading. While I am not an expert on all facets of Jewish History, from the parts that I know I was able to find a number of basic factual errors. For example, the author states that Zyklon B gas was used throughout the Holocaust at all of the camps. In Treblinka, the Germans used carbon monoxide exhaust from tank engines. Of course this is a... more info
