'An absolute godsend ... Goodman has done both Jews and non-Jews a great service with this book, encapsulating most of Jewish thought over four millennia into one extraordinarily readable volume' Julia Neuberger, Literary Review

A panoramic history of Judaism from its origins to the present

Judaism is by some distance the oldest of the three Abrahamic religions. Despite the extraordinarily diverse forms it has taken, the Jewish people have believed themselves bound to God by the same covenant for more than three thousand years. This book explains how Judaism came to be and how it has developed from one age to the next, as well as the ways in which its varieties have related to each other.

'A one-volume tour de force. Goodman meets the substantial challenge of charting the twists and turns, tributaries and backwaters of Judaism's many streams over 2,000 years - and succeeds' Harry Freedman, Jewish Chronicle

'Learned and illuminating ... this magnificently lucid account will become the standard reference for a generation' Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal

Ranging from the religion's inception to the many denominations of contemporary Judaism, this book addresses one of the world's great religions on a grander scale than any predecessor.

About the Author
Martin Goodman is Professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford and President of the Oxford Centre for Jewish and Hebrew Studies. He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford and the British Academy. His Rome and Jerusalem, published in 2008, was acknowledged as a landmark in the study of the Jewish people in the Roman Empire, and has been translated into six languages. In 2002 he edited the Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, which was awarded the National Jewish Book Award for Scholarship.

Reviews
An absolute godsend ... Goodman has done both Jews and non-Jews a great service with this book, encapsulating most of Jewish thought over four millennia into one extraordinarily readable volume -- Julia Neuberger * Literary Review *
A History of Judaism is beautifully written and meticulously annotated, and includes maps and illustrations. Goodman holds the book with authority and impeccable even-handedness, engaging the reader with his erudition, but also seasoning the narrative with some of the great and most influential Jewish lives. I could hardly recommend it more. -- Charles Middleburgh * Church Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780141038216
Author Martin Goodman
Format Paperback
Page Count 656
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 482g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 29mm