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A review by noahwalker
Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History by Joseph Telushkin
4.0
An excellent and comprehensive guidebook to the various aspects of Jewish life, culture, and history. Telushkin's writing is accessible and the book itself is formatted to be used as a reference, so this is a good book to keep on hand to refer back to as the occassion arises.
As other reviewers have noted, the author has allowed his personal feelings to weigh on how he presents the Muslim and Arab world, and I would take his words with a grain of salt here. I made it a point to verify politically motivated statements against other, more neutral sources -- some stack up, some don't. If you're reading this book, I presume you're ready to do some heavy reading, so adding more research to the list shouldn't be that tall of an order. You'll find plenty of it within these pages -- each chapter ends with a bibliography on the subject.
As other reviewers have noted, the author has allowed his personal feelings to weigh on how he presents the Muslim and Arab world, and I would take his words with a grain of salt here. I made it a point to verify politically motivated statements against other, more neutral sources -- some stack up, some don't. If you're reading this book, I presume you're ready to do some heavy reading, so adding more research to the list shouldn't be that tall of an order. You'll find plenty of it within these pages -- each chapter ends with a bibliography on the subject.