
The Jews
A History, 2-Volume Set
Routledge (Publisher)
4th Edition
Published on 23. June 2025
Book
792 pages
978-1-041-00732-6 (ISBN)
Description
These accessibly written volumes examine the major periods of Jewish history around the world, from their distant origins in antiquity through the beginnings of the modern period and the emergence of secular culture, and further to the eighteenth century to the present day.
The first volume of a comprehensive history of the Jews draws on up to date research to recount the story of the Jews from their distant origins in antiquity through the beginnings of the modern period and the emergence of secular culture. Enhanced by images, limelight given to various historical mysteries, recommendations for how to learn more, as well other features, the book moves chapter by chapter through the major periods of Jewish history, balancing introductions for those unfamiliar with that history, with discussion of new approaches and recent discoveries that have reshaped understanding of the Jewish past.
The second volume of a comprehensive history of the Jews includes topics such as the impact on Jewish society of the Enlightenment as well as its Jewish equivalent, the Haskalah, religious innovations in eastern and central Europe, the processes of emancipation and Jewish acculturation, the modern economic history of the Jewish people, which includes their embourgeoisement in central and western Europe, and the growth of a giant Jewish proletariat in eastern Europe, the emergence of an antisemitic politics that sought to roll back Jewish gains and the variety of Jewish responses to those illiberal forces, especially in the form of vibrant Jewish political cultures, among them Zionism, socialism, and mass migration.
The book is useful not just for those interested in the Jews themselves but also for readers open to learning about global history from the vantage point of a people whose experiences attest both to the resilience of human culture and the impact of hate and violence.
The first volume of a comprehensive history of the Jews draws on up to date research to recount the story of the Jews from their distant origins in antiquity through the beginnings of the modern period and the emergence of secular culture. Enhanced by images, limelight given to various historical mysteries, recommendations for how to learn more, as well other features, the book moves chapter by chapter through the major periods of Jewish history, balancing introductions for those unfamiliar with that history, with discussion of new approaches and recent discoveries that have reshaped understanding of the Jewish past.
The second volume of a comprehensive history of the Jews includes topics such as the impact on Jewish society of the Enlightenment as well as its Jewish equivalent, the Haskalah, religious innovations in eastern and central Europe, the processes of emancipation and Jewish acculturation, the modern economic history of the Jewish people, which includes their embourgeoisement in central and western Europe, and the growth of a giant Jewish proletariat in eastern Europe, the emergence of an antisemitic politics that sought to roll back Jewish gains and the variety of Jewish responses to those illiberal forces, especially in the form of vibrant Jewish political cultures, among them Zionism, socialism, and mass migration.
The book is useful not just for those interested in the Jews themselves but also for readers open to learning about global history from the vantage point of a people whose experiences attest both to the resilience of human culture and the impact of hate and violence.
More details
Edition
4th edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Undergraduate Core
Illustrations
85 s/w Abbildungen, 68 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 17 s/w Zeichnungen
17 Line drawings, black and white; 68 Halftones, black and white; 85 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 280 mm
Width: 210 mm
Weight
1970 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-041-00732-6 (9781041007326)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
06/2025
4th Edition
Routledge
€109.26
Shipment within 15-20 days
Previous edition

Book
11/2018
3rd Edition
Routledge
€237.70
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
John Efron is the Koret Professor of Jewish History at the University of California at Berkeley. He specializes in the cultural and social history of German Jewry. He is the author of German Jewry and the Allure of the Sephardic (2016) All Consuming: Germans, Jews, and the Meaning of Meat (2025).
Matthias B. Lehmann is Professor of Jewish History at the University of Cologne, where he directs the Martin Buber Institute for Jewish Studies. His publications include The Baron: Maurice de Hirsch and the Jewish Nineteenth Century (2022), Emissaries from the Holy Land (2014), and the coedited volume Jews and the Mediterranean (2020).
Steven Weitzman is a scholar of ancient Judaism and serves at the University of Pennsylvania as the Abraham M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures and as the Ella Darivoff Director of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. His publications include The Origin of the Jews: the Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age (2017), awarded a National Jewish Book Award, and the soon to appear A History of Signs and Wonders: the Ten Plagues Then, Now and at the End of the World.
Matthias B. Lehmann is Professor of Jewish History at the University of Cologne, where he directs the Martin Buber Institute for Jewish Studies. His publications include The Baron: Maurice de Hirsch and the Jewish Nineteenth Century (2022), Emissaries from the Holy Land (2014), and the coedited volume Jews and the Mediterranean (2020).
Steven Weitzman is a scholar of ancient Judaism and serves at the University of Pennsylvania as the Abraham M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures and as the Ella Darivoff Director of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. His publications include The Origin of the Jews: the Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age (2017), awarded a National Jewish Book Award, and the soon to appear A History of Signs and Wonders: the Ten Plagues Then, Now and at the End of the World.
Author
Stanford University, USA
University of California, Irvine, USA
Content
VOLUME 1
1. Ancient Israel and Other Ancestors 2. Becoming the People of the Book 3. Jews and Greeks 4. Between Caesar and God 5. Talmudic Transformation 6. Under the Crescent 7. Under the Cross 8. A Jewish Renaissance 9. New Worlds, East and West
VOLUME 2
1. The State of the Jews, the Jews and the State 2. Modern Transformations 3. The Politics of Being Jewish 4. A World Upended 5. The Holocaust 6. Into the Present
1. Ancient Israel and Other Ancestors 2. Becoming the People of the Book 3. Jews and Greeks 4. Between Caesar and God 5. Talmudic Transformation 6. Under the Crescent 7. Under the Cross 8. A Jewish Renaissance 9. New Worlds, East and West
VOLUME 2
1. The State of the Jews, the Jews and the State 2. Modern Transformations 3. The Politics of Being Jewish 4. A World Upended 5. The Holocaust 6. Into the Present