A History of the Jews

National Bestseller

"A tour de force. . . . A remarkable achievement." —New York Times Book Review

"A marvelous book. . . . This is history: richly textured, provocative and wise." —Plain Dealer

From acclaimed historian Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times and A History of American People, this brilliant work of world history offers a 4000 year survey that covers not only Jewish history—from ancient Israel to the modern day—but the impact of Jewish genius and imagination on the world.

Why have the Jews endured for 4,000 years, and what has been their profound role in the story of humanity?

• The Birth of Monotheism: Trace the story from Abraham’s covenant and the origins of a single, ethical God to the laws of Moses and the writing of the Bible.
• A History of Survival: Follow the long, often tragic, history of a tenacious people through exile, persecution, the ghetto, and the Holocaust.
• Impact on Civilization: Examine the magnitude of the debt Christianity owes to Judaism and the immense impact of Jewish genius on global culture and thought.
• The Age of Zion: Understand the modern era, from the rise of Emancipation to the creation of a controversial and beleaguered state of its own in Zion.

| A national bestseller, this brilliant 4000 year survey covers not only Jewish history but he impact of Jewish genius and imagination on the world. By the author of Modern Times: The World From the Twenties to the Eighties. |

"A tour de force. . . . A remarkable achievement." - New York Times Book Review

"An absorbing, provocative, well-written, often moving book, an insightful and impassioned blend of history and myth, story and interpretation." - Merle Rubin, Christian Science Monitor

"A marvelous book. . . . This is history: richly textured, provocative and wise." - Plain Dealer

"Johnson has put together in one volume an extraordinary amount of useful information, and talks realistically about the Jews of the last four centuries, to which his devotes more than half of his book." - New York Review of Books

"A powerful reminder of Jewish achievement throughout the ages." - Martin Gilbert, Commentary

"Johnson brings to his subject a vitality that can't be matched in any of the professional one-volume histories. . . . His writing is dramatic without histrionics, graphic without being highly colored." - John Gross, New York Times