In the early 20th century, with Russia full of intense social strife and political struggle, Vladimir Yevgenyevich (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky (1880-1940) was a Revisionist Zionist leader and Jewish Public intellectual. Although previously glossed over, these years are crucial to Jabotinsky's development as a thinker, politician, and Zionist. Brian Horowitz focuses on Jabotinsky's commitments to antisemitism, Zionism, and Palestine as he embraced radicalism and fought against the suffering brought upon Jews through pogroms, poverty, and victimization while also defending Jabotinsky against accusations that he was too ambitious, a fascist, and a militarist. As Horowitz delves into the years that shaped Jabotinsky's social, political, and cultural orientation, an intriguing psychological portrait emerges.

About the Author

Brian Horowitz holds the Sizeler Family Chair in Jewish Studies at Tulane University. He is author of many articles and books on European and American Jewry, including Empire Jews, Jewish Philanthropy and Enlightenment in Late-Tsarist Russia, Russian Idea-Jewish Presence, and most recently The Russian-Jewish Tradition.

Reviews

In this interesting and original book, Brian J. Horowitz focuses on Vladimir Jabotinsky's transformation from a supporter of liberalism in Russia to a Zionist who advocated extreme conservatism in the mid- 1920s.

-- Abraham Ascher * Studies in Contemporary Jewry An Annual XXXII *

In this latest, absorbing book [Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925] Horowitz focuses on Jabotinsky's years in Russia, drawing on detailed Russian and Hebrew sources.

-- Colin Shindler * The Jewish Chronicle *

In his careful intellectual history, Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925, Brian Horowitz shows that Jabotinsky's Revisionist Zionist congress was the crowning glory of his "Russian period," when the Russian-speaking journalist and intellectual enshrined a vision of a Jewish home with a Jewish majority in British Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River.

-- David Shneer, University of Colorado, Boulder * Russian Review *

It is Horowitz's personal opinion that Jabotinsky's "outsize image deflates considerably when one compares him to Ben-Gurion". However, a careful, dispassionate reading of this book most probably will convince the objective reader otherwise. And for that result, Horowitz deserves praise.

-- Yisrael Medad - Menachem Begin Heritage Center * Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs *

Horowitz's book, a critical rethinking of Jabotinsky's Russian years, is a valuable addition to this scholarship, which makes a significant con- ceptual and factual contribution to the historiography of both Russia and her Jews.

-- Vassili Schedrin - Queen's University * AJS REVIEW *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253047687
Author Brian J. Horowitz
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press