An investigation into the way in which modern Zionism was received by bourgeois west European Jews from 1897 to 1914, placing particular emphasis on the movement's approach towards those who were not seen as potential immigrants to Palestine.

"This Very Short Introduction discloses a history of Zionism from the origins of modern Jewish nationalism in the 1870's to the present. Michael Stanislawski provides a lucid and detached analysis of Zionism, focusing on its internal intellectual and ideological developments and divides"--

An indispensable primary source in the history of Zionism. The First Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland, in August 1897, was arguably the most significant Jewish assembly since antiquity. Its delegates surveyed the situation of Jews at the end of the nineteenth century, analyzed cultural and economic issues facing them, defined the program of Zionism, created an organization for planning and decision-making, and coalesced in camaraderie and shared aspiration. Though Zionism experienced multiple conflicts and reversals, the Congress’s goal was ultimately realized in the establishment of Jewish sovereignty in Palestine—the State of Israel—in 1948. As Theodor Herzl, the Congress’s principal organizer, declared: “At Basel I founded the Jewish state.” This volume presents, for the first time, a complete translation of the German proceedings into English. Michael J. Reimer’s accessible translation includes explanatory annotations and a glossary of key terms, events, and personalities. A detailed introduction situates the First Zionist Congress in historical context and provides a summary of each day’s events. The Congress’s debates supply a case study in the history of nationalism: they feature imagery and tropes used by nationalists all over Europe, while appealing to the distinctive heritage of Judaism. The proceedings are also important for what they say—and omit—about the Ottoman state that ruled Palestine as well as the Palestinian Arab people living there. This is a foundational primary source in modern Jewish history. “This translation of the protocols of the First Zionist Congress will be of immense benefit to students and scholars of Jewish and Middle Eastern history, nationalism studies, and colonial and postcolonial studies. Reimer’s long introduction is thoughtful and provocative, the translation is faithful, and the notes and biographical dictionary are enormously helpful.” — Derek J. Penslar, Harvard University “This is an important and even fantastic piece of work. Reimer makes an excellent and perhaps understated case for the need for such a complete and annotated translation.” — Michael Berkowitz, author of Zionist Culture and West European Jewry before the First World War

Before the state of Israel became a reality in 1948, a group of thinkers advanced the idea; five of these men would become icons of the Zionist movement, and today, renowned history professor Benzion Netanyahu (himself a significant figure) has profiled The Founding Fathers of Zionism.

In the nineteenth century, the largest Jewish community the modern world had known lived in hundreds of towns and shtetls in the territory between the Prussian border of Poland and the Ukrainian coast of the Black Sea. The period had started with the partition of Poland and the absorption of its territories into the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires; it would end with the first large-scale outbreaks of anti-Semitic violence and the imposition in Russia of strong anti-Semitic legislation. In the years between, a traditional society accustomed to an autonomous way of life would be transformed into one much more open to its surrounding cultures, yet much more confident of its own nationalist identity. In The Jews of Eastern Europe, Israel Bartal traces this transformation and finds in it the roots of Jewish modernity.

"An original and brilliant thesis, exposing a long misunderstood figure. A great book." -- Bernard Avishai "Excellent... a highly revealing portrait that demolishes Herzl-the-icon." -- Michael Marrus "Other biographers... have illuminated aspects of [Herzl's] life, but none has been able to produce the kind of intellectual biography that we have here. Jacques Kornberg has done an admirable job of plumbing the depths of Herzl's mind to try to come to an understanding of just why he became a Zionist and why he was literally consumed with promoting Zionist goals." -- Cithara "With compassion and critical balance, placing his subject well within his Austrian milieu, Kornberg analyzes Herzl's rhetoric, tergiversations, and profound ambivalence over his politics and identity."Â -- Choice "... a masterful display of the sources... " -- American Historical Review "... stimulating, provocative and agreeably iconoclastic... powerful and compelling." -- German History A novel and provocative explanation of Theodor Herzl's founding of Zionism as a way of resolving his personal crisis over his Jewish identity.

A historical tour de force, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a groundbreaking account of Jewish and Israeli history. Exploding the myth that there was a forced Jewish exile in the first century at the hands of the Romans, Israeli historian Shlomo Sand argues that most modern Jews descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In this iconoclastic work, which spent nineteen weeks on the Israeli bestseller list and won the coveted Aujourd'hui Award in France, Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel's future.