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The Story of the Jews Volume Two: Belonging: 1492-1900 (Story of the Jews, 2) Hardcover – Illustrated, October 24, 2017

by Simon Schama (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 500 ratings
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" A riveting picture, generously rendered, of the stubborn, argumentative miracle of Jewish survival against the odds... Schama has made an eloquent and a far-reaching case for why Jews needed a small piece of earth they could call home.” -- The New York Times Book Review

In the second of three volumes of this magnificently illustrated cultural history, the tie-in to the PBS and BBC series The Story of the Jews, Simon Schama details the story of the Jewish people from 1492 through the end of nineteenth century

Simon Schama’s great project continues and the Jewish story is woven into the fabric of humanity. Their search for a home where a distinctive religion and culture could be nourished without being marginalized suddenly takes on startling resonance in our own epoch of homelessness, wanderings, persecutions, and anxious arrivals.

Volume 2 of The Story of the Jews epic tells the stories of many who seldom figure in Jewish histories: not just the rabbis and the philosophers but a poetess in the ghetto of Venice; a general in Ming China; a boxer in Georgian England, a Bible showman in Amsterdam; a teacher of the deaf in eighteenth-century France, an opera composer in nineteenth-century Germany. The story unfolds in Kerala and Mantua, the starlit hills of Galilee, the rivers of Colombia, the kitchens of Istanbul, the taverns of Ukraine and the mining camps of California. It sails in caravels, rides the stagecoaches and the railways, trudges the dawn streets of London with a pack load of old clothes, hobbles along with the remnant of Napoleon’s ruined army.

Through Schama’s passionate and intelligent telling, a story emerges of the Jewish people that feels as if it is the story of everyone, of humanity packed with detail, this second chronicle in an epic tale will shed new light on a crucial period of history.

Previous page
  1. Book 2 of 2
    The Story of the Jews
  2. Print length
    800 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Ecco
  5. Publication date
    October 24, 2017
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 1.9 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0062339575
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0062339577
  9. See all details
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Foreign Bodies The Story of the Jews The Story of the Jews Volume Two Rough Crossings Scribble, Scribble, Scribble The American Future
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An engaging and electrifying read by a skilled literary craftsman, cultural historian and tour guide . . . Schama enchants his readers by introducing colorful characters worthy of a Charles Dickens novel... The Story of the Jews dazzles with the art and alchemy of an adventure novel.” — Washington Post

“In his engaging, stylistic prose, the author proceeds chronologically and delves into fascinating personal stories that reveal the Jewish experience...A fluid history lesson from an always engaging guide.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A technicolor blockbuster.” — The Spectator (U.K)

“Remarkable… [a] glittering gemstone of a book.” — The Times (UK)

“Profoundly illuminating.” — The Observer (London)

“Immensely erudite and compulsively readable.” — New Statesman

“A magnificent achievement.” — The Guardian

“Magisterial...Wonderfully rich...Superb...In the company of Schama -- one of the finest writers and thinkers of his generation -- we are guaranteed a guide both insightful and eloquent.” — Daily Telegraph (London)

“Magisterial... With astonishing range and extraordinary synthesising powers, Schama captures the drama of Jewish History.... Between the poles of their regular, unannounced acculturation and anti-Semitism lay Jewish life in all its vibrant, messy and colourful forms.” — Financial Times

“Schama is a remarkable storyteller. His approach is cinematic. . .  A riveting picture, generously rendered . . . Schama has made an eloquent and a far-reaching case for why Jews needed a small piece of earth they could call home.” — New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Simon Schama is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University in New York. His award-winning books include Scribble, Scribble, Scribble; The American Future: A History; National Book Critics Circle Award winner Rough Crossings; The Power of Art; The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age; Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution; Dead Certainties (Unwarranted Speculations); Landscape and Memory; Rembrandt's Eyes; and the History of Britain trilogy. He has written and presented forty television documentary films for the BBC, PBS, and The History Channel, including the Emmy-winning Power of Art, on subjects that range from John Donne to Tolstoy.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco; Illustrated edition (October 24, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 800 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062339575
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062339577
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.41 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.9 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 500 ratings

About the author

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Simon Schama

Simon Schama

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Simon Schama is a professor of art history and history at Columbia University, and is the author of numerous award-winning books; his most recent history, Rough Crossings, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. He is a cultural essayist for the New Yorker and has written and presented more than thirty documentaries for the BBC, PBS, and the History Channel, including The Power of Art, which won the 2007 International Emmy for Best Arts Programming.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
500 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michelle Brockmeier
5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you want or need to know
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
Schama stirs the hearts of history buffs with his strong stories and wonderful narrative. Just as he has done in his other works, he unravels very complicated, multidimensional events into digestible, readable, fascinating tales of history. Schama builds a genuine respect for his subject that is felt throughout the book. This second volume continues the tortuous history of the Jews. I use both of his volumes to develop class lectures for my European survey history classes, Russian history, and Hitler Nazi Germany. His works are so dense and complete, one can find what you need to craft those stories students love. Schama includes such interesting details and creates a flowing narrative that he brings the history of the Jews to life. History of the Jews is not a quick easy read. It is a journey into the twisted path of these people. It is a journey you will not forget.
3 people found this helpful
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Steve Pease
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book by a Superb Story Teller
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2018
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This is a wonderful book. Schama is a superb story teller.

He takes individual Jews - whose stories are fascinating and emblematic of particular eras in Jewish history - to tell The Story of the Jews between the commencement of the Inquisition in 1492 and the emergence of a full fledged Zionist movement on the heels of the Dreyfus case. Though I know a reasonable amount of Jewish history having written a couple books on disproportionate Jewish Achievement, I wish this book had been available when I began my research. It would have better informed my work from inception.

I recommend this for any Jew or Gentile interested in learning more about this important 500 years in World history. This is a story of great hardships and survival coupled with telling of the vitally important role Jews played over all those years.

Steven L. Pease
5 people found this helpful
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Systems Analyst
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2023
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Beautifully written with perspective and insight.
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Dr. Debra Jan Bibel
4.0 out of 5 stars The Quest of Social Acceptance Continues
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2017
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Schama continues the epic history of the Jewish people by focusing on representative leaders, innovators, and delusive fools; merchants, bankers, and military; rabbis and rebellious philosophers; and clashing worldviews of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Jews in Yemen, and Jews in China. Brave, independent women are here also. Foremost, however, is the constant struggle against lies, deceits, and hatred, lethal, destructive pogroms and exile, and always dashed hopes. Whether Sultan or Prime Minister, Prince or Pope, the powers desired the Jewish expert mercantile network and funds for economic gain and wars on neighbors while denying citizenship, restricting forms of livelihood, movement, property ownership, and areas of dwelling. However loyal to the nation and supportive of the ruler, Jews knew that everything could easily be lost overnight. Schama leaves out much of Jewish history in Central Asia, as Bukhara, and even the relationships of Jews and Sufis of the Ottoman Empire. The focus on individuals, however, does personalize and enliven the accounts, which are extraordinarily detailed and scholarly without being academic. The book is a story of survival against all odds, enduring as a people and religion largely because surrounding society would not really allow full assimilation; even those who were forced or socially obliged to convert to Christianity were never trusted and assumed to be cryptic Jews. The book stops at the cusp of the 20th century with the rise of Zionism, a return to Jerusalem and the land of Israel where Jews could have their own nation in which to govern themselves and be safe from the adverse whims of potentates, as were the aspirations of Indians in the Raj and the Kurds and other peoples today. The stated 3rd volume will cover the last 100 years, which is fresh in the mind and reinforced by film, book, and play. Even in America, as Schama describes, despite its documents of freedom, Jews faced the same distrust and exclusion (as a reminder of even recent times, see the 1947 film with Gregory Peck, Gentleman's Agreement) and the darkness of anti-Semitism remains here and in Europe, just beneath the surface. Schama is a storyteller and this new volume fascinates and educates with its complexities and follies, hopes and dreams, and ever melancholic sighs.
32 people found this helpful
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Francis de Sales
5.0 out of 5 stars When Will Schama Publish Part 3??
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2022
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Excellent series. A must read. The PBS series was excellent as well. The big question is: when will part 3 come out? This work is not complete without it.
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Ellen M. Puff
5.0 out of 5 stars History told via personal anecdotes
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2021
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Excellent. Read the bibliographic notes for a few laughs. I only wish that this volume had maps as the first volume did.
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Paulo A. Reimann
3.0 out of 5 stars Let's put it that way...
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2018
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...I highly respect Schama and recognize in him a great intellectual. I was looking for something that entertains me without the scholarship flavourful the book provides. My bad. The book is lesser about history more into social pages. Some high points such as the portion, short though, about Jefferson, the Brazilian sefaradis and a bit about the Hungarian assimilated petit bourgeois. Will try, though, volume I.
4 people found this helpful
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Elaine M. Adelman
5.0 out of 5 stars The Survival of the Jews
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2018
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I’m in the process of reading the second book in this series and find it fascinating. It’s hard to believe that Simon Schama has located the kind of details about Jewish families that keep the reader riveted to a time period that is not only unfamiliar but terrifying. The period of the Spanish Inquisition is dealt with by connecting the reader to individual families of Jews that survived and managed to use their wealth to keep political tyrants under their control.
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Top reviews from other countries

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ASB
5.0 out of 5 stars simon schama es una eminencia
Reviewed in Mexico on August 20, 2022
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solo por Schama, este libro es una lectura obligada. Pocos escritores/historiadores han contado una historia tan compleja con tanta profundidad y honestidad. No se mete en temas conflictivos y entra a detalles totalmente desconocidos para la mayoría...

Super recomendación.
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A man who loves to read a hardback amd defies critics and always leaves a review if the book hits home and it joins my collection
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic piece work
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2024
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A conclusion
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Dominika
3.0 out of 5 stars Zła okładka
Reviewed in Poland on February 16, 2023
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Grzbiet szybko się łamie, trudności z wygodnym czytaniem. Treść super.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy interesante y ameno
Reviewed in Spain on November 30, 2020
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Un libro intenso, muy interesante y que aporta una visión amplia de los judíos. Tal vez un vocabulario en ciertas ocasiones culto, que requiere diccionario. El tipo de narrativa es divulgación así que no se hace pesado ni académico.

Deseando que aparezca la parte final.
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Morley S. Wolfe Q.C.
5.0 out of 5 stars The somewhat esoteric first book by Schama ( The Story ...
Reviewed in Canada on June 9, 2018
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The somewhat esoteric first book by Schama ( The Story of the Jews 1000 BCE - 1492 CE ) leads into this follow up from 1492 - 1900 and provides the modern reader with some fascinating details and background into the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of a people poisoned by bigotry, religious hatred, ghetto-ization and racial discrimination - with expulsions from Spain, from Portugal. from England - to acceptance in Holland and other European designations (sometime with reticence ) - and more personal vignettes into the slow but eventual realization that Jews are more than capable of merely surviving all the ill-will they encounter - but truly contribute to the betterment of society as whole. A fascinating, and scholarly read and perhaps as important - a necessary one.
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