The eighteenth century was the Jews' first modern century. The deep changes that took place during its course shaped the following generations, and its most prominent voices still reverberate today. In this first volume of his magisterial work, Shmuel Feiner charts the twisting and fascinating world of the first half of the 18th century from the viewpoint of the Jews of Europe. Paying careful attention to life stories, to bright and dark experiences, to voices of protest, to aspirations of reform, and to strivings for personal and general happiness, Feiner identifies the tectonic changes that were taking place in Europe and their unprecedented effects on and among Jews. From the religious and cultural revolution of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) to the question of whether Jews could be citizens of any nation, Feiner presents a broad view of how this century of upheaval altered the map of Europe and the Jews who called it home.

About the Author

Shmuel Feiner is Professor of Modern Jewish History at Bar-Ilan University and Chairman of the Historical Society of Israel. He is author of Haskalah and History; The Emergence of a Modern Jewish Historical Consciousness; The Jewish Enlightenment; Moses Mendelssohn, Sage of Modernity; and The Origins of Jewish Secularization. Jeffrey M. Green is a professional writer and translator who lives and works in Jerusalem. He is author of Thinking through Translation and Largest Island in the Sea.

Reviews

"Shmuel Feiner gives us a capacious and methodologically innovative volume on the "modernity" of the Jewish eighteenth century by juxtaposing myriad events across disparate regions recounted through a captivating panoply of personalities."-David Sorkin, Lucy G. Moses professor of Jewish history at Yale University

"Shmuel Feiner has synthesized the work of the best modern scholars of a half-century of European Jewish history and combined it with his own, original research, to tell the story of a period little known to non-specialists. The result is a narrative that is as authoritative as it is entrancing."-Allan Arkush, Jewish Review of Books

"Extraordinarily erudite and compulsively readable, this book transforms everything we thought we knew about the Jewish eighteenth century. A remarkable achievement."-Yair Mintzker, Princeton University

Book Information
ISBN 9780253049469
Author Shmuel Feiner
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 807g