A History Of The Jewish People / It is a difficult task to tell the story of the life of the Jewish people, from the dim beginnings to the present day, within the limits of a single volume. At every point Jewish history is interwoven with universal history, and this background must be presented. Compression becomes a necessity, considering the wide area embracing practically the whole of the civilized world and the long stretch of time. All those principal centers which have played a part in the unfoldment of the outer and inner life of the Jewish people must figure in the story. The most advantageous method seemed to be a treatment which would bring into relief the shifting of these centers, from the home country (Book I) to the eastern center (Book II), thence to the West-European centers (Book III), to the emergence of new centers for the fugitives from Spain and Germany (Book IV), and lastly in the Age of Emancipation (Book V) to the new exodus from Eastern Europe and the creation of the center in the ancient homeland.
Places and periods so widely apart must of necessity present different aspects: now it is a record of wars and battles, of victories and defeats, of deportation and restoration, and now of taking root in foreign soil and of being uprooted, of friendly intercourse with the neighbor and of chains of persecutions, of achieving the rights of free citizens and of the reaction expressing itself in German Anti-Semitism and Russian pogroms. All this is told in the present work, but much more. It is the history of the entire people, of the mass; accordingly special stress is laid on its economic and social life. A history of Jewish literature is not the professed purport of this volume. However, letters are a part of the people's many-sided activity and men of letters are personalities, influencing their generation and shaping the future. There is a Jewish life to-day which has its roots in the past; it is an inner life unfolding itself in the long course . . .
A comprehensive history of the Jews, prepared for an overview history course.
