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shawnwhy's review against another edition
5.0
pretty through and touches on teh entire history from before Abraham to the present palestinian-Isreali COnflict. touches on all teh major influential figures such as Maimonides and Herzl, interesting reading about Menachim Begin's terrorist activities against the British opposition to the Isreali state though.. also interesting ot read that GErmany was most Accepting of Jews of all eurioean nations before histler, and of course, Russia was always anti-semetic. America was settled by jews before the revolution and is the only nation where jews are naturalized as not a foreign element.
veryperi22's review against another edition
I'm marking this book Read, but it's a lie.
It's beyond tediuos.
I know it's supposed to be a best seller. I just couldn't even get through the first thirty pages.
I'd suggest Isaac Schama's History of the Jews over this one in a heartbeat.
It's beyond tediuos.
I know it's supposed to be a best seller. I just couldn't even get through the first thirty pages.
I'd suggest Isaac Schama's History of the Jews over this one in a heartbeat.
breadcrumbz's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of a minority of books that are more an experience than a narrative. I honestly feel awed. Nadia May narrates excellently.
sudeshnabora's review
4.0
Paul Johnson has comprehensively chronicled the journey of the Jews in this mere 644 paged book. Given the fact that he has captured about 4000 years of world history focussing on the Jews, this is a commendable feat in itself. This book starts at a time when the Jews didn't even call themselves that and ends at the 1970's. This book takes us back to about a few dozens of years before collective Jewish faith started being adopted.
Paul Johnson has divided this book into seven logical subparts namely Israelites, Judaism, Cathedocracy, Ghetto, Emancipation, Holocaust and Zion with each part dealing with an essential aspect of Jewish history.
Personally, for me, this book did not start as a favourite. I had so much difficulty reading the initial few parts that I almost chucked it away. The writer in the beginning parts relies heavily on the old testament and uses it as a point of truth and as history. Being from a non-Abrahamic religion and having no prior contact with Abrahamic stories, it was challenging for me to make sense of the references he was using (I relied heavily on Wikipedia to understand what each story meant or get a geographic idea of the texts he was using). Also, I felt the author assumes his audience is already aware of the conception of Jewish faith and this makes it extremely difficult for a beginner to this subject to understand what he is trying to say. Adding to this, he considered these stories and events to be history which was unpalatable for me because of the cultural and demographic differences we have had.
Though these issues mostly resolved itself as we progress into the later parts, one theme that remains constant throughout the book was eurocentrism. I always felt an insidious undercurrent of condescension to be present, be it for the non-Abrahamic European/middle eastern culture or to polytheism. Paul Johnson does not even acknowledge the existence of Asian culture and religious philosophy. I do realise that these topics are outside the scope of this book, but you cannot claim a philosophy to be superior or the best in this world without analysing or even mentioning other philosophies. It is as if these philosophies either didn't exist or is not worth mentioning.
Now moving towards the positives, this book provides a very unbiased opinion about the Jewish issue. Unlike what I feared, this book does not paint the Jews into victimhood; the writer also draws light to the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the Jewish faith, that always kept them aloof of the contemporary cultures in Europe and America and may have contributed (not a justification to the fate meted out to them) to some prevalent anti-semitic feelings. I also feel that the time given to each topic is extremely balanced. Another beautiful aspect of this book is its continuity. The author seamlessly transits from one point to the other and it makes reading this tome very convenient. The opinions that the author provides coupled with the flow of the narration makes it the highlight of this book.
So, in summary, the pros and cons of this book would be:-
Pros:
1. A comprehensive analysis of the Jewish journey for anyone who wants to know everything about them.
2. Beautiful continuity between chapters and topics.
3. The insights provided by the authors are the USP of this book.
Cons:-
1. An extremely steep learning curve for a complete beginner (at least the inception part).
2. Found it eurocentric and may touch a wrong cord for non-European readers.
3. Not an easy read for a casual enthusiast about the topic. The reader needs to be motivated or passionate about the topic to be able to finish this.
In conclusion, I feel people who want to know about the history of the Jews need to give this book a try. I also personally think that as the book finishes its narration at the 1970s, we may need a new chapter to cover half a century that has passed since the last chapter was written , though that does not seem plausible given the age of the writer.
Happy reading!
Paul Johnson has divided this book into seven logical subparts namely Israelites, Judaism, Cathedocracy, Ghetto, Emancipation, Holocaust and Zion with each part dealing with an essential aspect of Jewish history.
Personally, for me, this book did not start as a favourite. I had so much difficulty reading the initial few parts that I almost chucked it away. The writer in the beginning parts relies heavily on the old testament and uses it as a point of truth and as history. Being from a non-Abrahamic religion and having no prior contact with Abrahamic stories, it was challenging for me to make sense of the references he was using (I relied heavily on Wikipedia to understand what each story meant or get a geographic idea of the texts he was using). Also, I felt the author assumes his audience is already aware of the conception of Jewish faith and this makes it extremely difficult for a beginner to this subject to understand what he is trying to say. Adding to this, he considered these stories and events to be history which was unpalatable for me because of the cultural and demographic differences we have had.
Though these issues mostly resolved itself as we progress into the later parts, one theme that remains constant throughout the book was eurocentrism. I always felt an insidious undercurrent of condescension to be present, be it for the non-Abrahamic European/middle eastern culture or to polytheism. Paul Johnson does not even acknowledge the existence of Asian culture and religious philosophy. I do realise that these topics are outside the scope of this book, but you cannot claim a philosophy to be superior or the best in this world without analysing or even mentioning other philosophies. It is as if these philosophies either didn't exist or is not worth mentioning.
Now moving towards the positives, this book provides a very unbiased opinion about the Jewish issue. Unlike what I feared, this book does not paint the Jews into victimhood; the writer also draws light to the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the Jewish faith, that always kept them aloof of the contemporary cultures in Europe and America and may have contributed (not a justification to the fate meted out to them) to some prevalent anti-semitic feelings. I also feel that the time given to each topic is extremely balanced. Another beautiful aspect of this book is its continuity. The author seamlessly transits from one point to the other and it makes reading this tome very convenient. The opinions that the author provides coupled with the flow of the narration makes it the highlight of this book.
So, in summary, the pros and cons of this book would be:-
Pros:
1. A comprehensive analysis of the Jewish journey for anyone who wants to know everything about them.
2. Beautiful continuity between chapters and topics.
3. The insights provided by the authors are the USP of this book.
Cons:-
1. An extremely steep learning curve for a complete beginner (at least the inception part).
2. Found it eurocentric and may touch a wrong cord for non-European readers.
3. Not an easy read for a casual enthusiast about the topic. The reader needs to be motivated or passionate about the topic to be able to finish this.
In conclusion, I feel people who want to know about the history of the Jews need to give this book a try. I also personally think that as the book finishes its narration at the 1970s, we may need a new chapter to cover half a century that has passed since the last chapter was written , though that does not seem plausible given the age of the writer.
Happy reading!
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