From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a masterful new biography of Theodor Herzl by an eminent historian of Zionism "An excellent, concise biography of Theodor Herzl, architect of modern Zionism. . . . An exceptionally good, highly readable volume."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "An engrossing account of a leader who, by converting despair into strength, gave an exiled people both political purpose and the means to attain it."--Benjamin Balint, Wall Street Journal The life of Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) was as puzzling as it was brief. How did this cosmopolitan and assimilated European Jew become the leader of the Zionist movement? How could he be both an artist and a statesman, a rationalist and an aesthete, a stern moralist yet possessed of deep, and at times dark, passions? And why did scores of thousands of Jews, many of them from traditional, observant backgrounds, embrace Herzl as their leader? Drawing on a vast body of Herzl's personal, literary, and political writings, historian Derek Penslar shows that Herzl's path to Zionism had as much to do with personal crises as it did with antisemitism. Once Herzl devoted himself to Zionism, Penslar shows, he distinguished himself as a consummate leader--possessed of indefatigable energy, organizational ability, and electrifying charisma. Herzl became a screen onto which Jews of his era could project their deepest needs and longings. About Jewish Lives: Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent." - New York times "Exemplary." - Wall St. Journal "Distinguished." - New Yorker "Superb." - The Guardian

Theodor Herzl: Old New Land. (AltNeuLand) First print Leipzig 1902. Translated by Dr. David Simon Blondheim, Federation of American Zionists, 1916 Vollständige Neuausgabe. Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth. Berlin 2015. Umschlaggestaltung von Thomas Schultz-Overhage unter Verwendung des Bildes: Paul Gauguin, Am Fusse des Berges, 1892. Gesetzt aus Minion Pro, 11 pt.

Born in Budapest in 1860, Theodor Herzl was a daydreamer who aspired to follow the footsteps of De Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal. As the Paris correspondent for Neue Freie Presse, Herzl followed the Dreyfus Affair, a notorious anti-Semitic incident in France in which a French Jewish army captain was falsely convicted of spying for Germany. Herzl came to reject his early ideas regarding Jewish emancipation and assimilation, and to believe that the Jews must remove themselves from Europe and create their own state. In 1896, he published 'The Jewish State' to immediate acclaim. This is his story.

"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"--

Ex Israeli Premier Shimon Peres takes us on an imaginary trip around Israel with Zionist leader Theodore Herzl. Together they contrast their impressions of this young country.