Product Description

"The world tended to see the Jews as a race which ruled itself in antiquity and set down its records in the Bible; had then gone underground for many centuries; had emerged at last only to be slaughtered by the Nazis; and, finally had created a state of its own, controversial and beleaguered. But these were merely salient episodes. I wanted to link them together, to find and study the missing portions, assemble them into a whole, and make sense of it" Paul Johnson in his Prologue

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #521677 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Sunday Times
A 4000-year history from the House of David until the 1980’s. Johnson’s enthusiasm and industry are, as usual, prodigious

Sunday Times
Magisterial and eloquent

About the Author
Paul Johnson was born in 1928. He edited the New Statesman in the 1960s and has written over forty books. His Modern Times, a history of the world from the 1920s to the 1990s, has been translated into more than fifteen languages. As well as a weekly column in the Spectator, he contributes to newspapers all over the world.

Customer Reviews

Excellent reference and enjoyable read.
Exceptionally well written and accessible. How does anyone encapsulate 4000 years of history - Johnson has managed it. At times provocative while still remaining informative. It's take on the early Christian era is distincly Judaic and for this period I would suggest refering to the compelling "THE Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth..." by Richard Patton which stands outside Judaic AND Christian politics. For all that "A history of the Jews" is precisely that and answers many questions both for the Jew and Gentile. The more people can know about each others cultures, the less aggression there will be and this book is a prime example of the need for inter-cultural communication.

The best one-volume Jewish history book, period!
As an Orthodox Jew, an "insider", I was absolutely (and positively) amazed to see an "outsider", like Mr. Johnson, penetrate through the layers of confusion and misunderstandings and really "gets it". In the words of Rabbi Berel Wein (a contemporary Jewish historian), "Mr. Johnson did a much better job than many secular Jewish historians". There are many things I disagree with in this book but more often then not I found myself nodding in agreement and underlining key sentences. All this is my commentary on the CONTENTS of the book, when it comes to lucidity, choice of words and philosophical depth, well... Brilliant is putting it mildly. This book is a must-read for Jews and non-Jews alike!

Sefer gadol, a great book about ethical monotheism
As a Catholic tragically aware of what he owes to the people of the Bible, I have been reading Jewish authors over the last twenty years, developing my own ghetto within my religious family and becoming extremely sensitive to gentile - not so gentle - oversimplifications concerning the Jews. Reading Paul Johnson was a permanent pleasure, if not bliss. From the standpoint of ethical monotheism, which he rightly so attributes to the Jews, he offers a thrilling travelogue across 4,000 years of human history, being honest enough to Christianity and Islam as Jewish sects which finally found a life of their own. Much before reaching his chapter on the Holocaust, his presentation on the seeds of antisemitism are extremely enlightening. This book is one of the best presents one can imagine for those who are prepared to suffer and rejoice with a people that cannot renounce to be God's elect.