They number barely a million today, less than one-tenth of the world Jewish population. But long ago, on Iberian soil, they were the magisters of their people, and the leaven of Mediterranean civilization altogether. Such were the Sephardim, and in Moslem Andalusia they were renowned prime ministers and army commanders, distinguished scientists, belletrists, and religious scholars. In Christian Spain and Provence, their translators ignited Europe's twelfth-century renaissance, their revenue agents funded the economies of Aragon and Castile, and their astronomers and navigators plotted the explorations of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama.
From the late fifteenth century onward, in exile from their Spanish and Portuguese homelands, the Sephardim made their mark as viziers and intimate advisers of Ottoman sultans, as vastly esteemed physicians of Renaissance dukes and popes, and as dynamic importers and exporters in the Dutch maritime traffic. Whether as professing Jews or converted "New Christians," it was this protean minority that functioned as a self-contained international trading network, spanning the seas and oceans, pioneering the gem industry of Europe and the sugar and tobacco plantations of Brazil, and flourishing as merchant ship captains amid pirate-infested Caribbean waterways.
Farewell Espana transcends conventional historical narrative. With the lucidity and verve that have characterized his numerous earlier volumes, Howard Sachar breathes life into the leading dramatis personae of the Sephardic world: the royal counselors Samuel ibn Nagrela and Joseph Nasi, the poets Solomon ibn Gabirol and Judah Halevi, the philosophers Moses Maimonides and Baruch Spinoza, the statesmen Benjamin Disraeli and Pierre Mendes-France, the warriors Moshe Pijade and David Elazar, the fabulous charlatans David Reuveni and Shabbatai Zvi.
In its breadth and richness of texture, Sachar's account sweeps to the contemporary era of Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco, poignantly traces the fate of Balkan Sephardic communities during the Holocaust -- and their revival in the Land and State of Israel. Not least of all, the author offers a tactile dimension of immediacy in his personal encounters with the storied venues and current personalities of the Sephardic world. Farewell Espana is a window opened on a glowing civilization once all but extinguished, and now flickering again into renewed creativity.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Farewell Espana:
This fascinating book depicts a history of the oddyssey of Spanish Jews all over the world following the enforced exile of the Spanish Inquisition. It is written with passion by an erudite historian yet, although filled with historical facts, at no time does it appear to be an academic lecture. Quite the contrary, it is a moving tale of the trials and tribulations of a people whose quest for surivival led them all over the globe and who made a worthwhile contribution wherever they went.
I have... more info
Fantastic introduction to Sephardic History:
If you are at all interested in the history of the Sephardic people this is the book to get. Sachar takes you on a journey from the plains of Al-andalus to the deserts of the Ottoman Empire, the thriving metropolis of the Dutch, to the modern state of Israel. The book is utterly readable and reads less like a dry history book and more like a novel where the central character is an entire nation. There is relatively little in the way of books about the Sephardic experience, and those that do exist for the... more info
Half a Story:
The lack of information on Sefaradim in Arab Lands is deplorable. The author perhaps lacks knowledge of these languages to adequately research the matter. His assesment of these people seems to be limited to those today in Israel. What about those that went to Canada,the US, France, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina?
