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: #209037 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!

The tragic history of God�s people
In this magisterial work, Johnson chronicles the long and bitter path of the Jewish people from the time of Abraham. A thorough and exhaustive work, it explores, amongst other things, monotheism, the concept of the sanctity of life, the Israelite prophets, the birth of Christianity, the Enlightenment, the Holocaust and the establishment of modern Israel.

The narrative is compelling on many levels, as a work of general history, as a tome of metaphysical and philosophical thought and in its discussions of historic personalities. The seven chapters are: Israelites, Judaism, Cathedocracy, Ghetto, Emancipation, Holocaust, and Zion.

The scope of History Of The Jews is too vast and its insights too edifying to be summarized in a short review. To do it justice, it needs a review the size of a small book! The question posed by the author in the Prologue: Is there a providential plan of which we are the agents?, is answered with a resounding yes when one reaches the end.

I enjoyed Part Seven: Zion, the most, as it charts the events leading to the restoration of Israel and this brave little country's survival against impossible odds. Those who do not see a divine hand behind the history of the 20th century must be wilfully blind.

If this were the only book he had written, Paul Johnson would still be a hero and a genius in my eyes. His account of the terrible suffering and the awesome contribution to mankind of the Jewish people will stand the test of time. But history is still being written despite the fatuous title of Fukuyama's famous book. There is hope that God's miracle nation will play a greater and happier part in the future.

This masterpiece concludes with a postscript, a glossary, extensive source notes and a thorough index.