The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words 1000 BC-1492 AD

Couverture
Harper Collins, 18 mars 2014 - 512 pages
23 Avis

In 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, tracing their experience across three millennia, from their beginnings as an ancient tribal people to the opening of the new world in 1492

It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance in the face of destruction, of creativity in the face of oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life despite the steepest of odds.

It spans the millennia and the continents—from India to Andalusia and from the bazaars of Cairo to the streets of Oxford. It takes you to unimagined places: to a Jewish kingdom in the mountains of southern Arabia; a Syrian synagogue glowing with radiant wall paintings; the palm groves of the Jewish dead in the Roman catacombs. And its voices ring loud and clear, from the severities and ecstasies of the Bible writers to the love poems of wine bibbers in a garden in Muslim Spain.

In The Story of the Jews, the Talmud burns in the streets of Paris, massed gibbets hang over the streets of medieval London, a Majorcan illuminator redraws the world; candles are lit, chants are sung, mules are packed, ships loaded with gems and spices founder at sea.

And a great story unfolds. Not—as often imagined—of a culture apart, but of a Jewish world immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from the Arabs to the Christians.

Which makes the story of the Jews everyone's story, too.

 

Avis des internautes - Rédiger un commentaire

Avis des utilisateurs

5 étoiles
8
4 étoiles
8
3 étoiles
6
2 étoiles
1
1 étoile
0

Schama balanced detail and sweeping overview rat - Goodreads
But it was just difficult to read. - Goodreads
I just found the writing difficult. - Goodreads
OK as an intro, but not much more. - Goodreads

LibraryThing Review

Avis d'utilisateur  - joeydag - LibraryThing

I had some difficulties reading this history. The author is brilliant and his writing can be quite demanding. Also he covers some of the most wretched tragedies. I don't think I've felt so ... Consulter l'avis complet

Review: The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE – 1492 CE

Avis d'utilisateur  - John Carter McKnight - Goodreads

Simply the best book I've read in many years, due largely to the quality of Schama's voice. As a history, it's fascinating in its wide range - from the Mesopotamia of 1000 BC to the Spanish ... Consulter l'avis complet

Table des matières

List of Illustrations
In Egypt
The Words
Delving Divining
Classical Jews?
The Menorah and the Cross
Among the Believers
The Women of Ashkenaz
Trials
Exile from Exile
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index
Photographic Insert
About the Author
Droits d'auteur

Autres éditions - Tout afficher

Expressions et termes fréquents

À propos de l'auteur (2014)

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.

Informations bibliographiques