The Jews in the Twentieth Century: An Illustrated History

by Martin Gilbert

What an extraordinary chronicle of upheaval, sorrow, and achievement is the story of the Jews in the twentieth century—and who better to narrate it than the renowned British historian Sir Martin Gilbert, whose lifework has been the study of the events and personages of our time. In this richly illustrated volume he vividly describes the individuals, the historic movements, the watershed moments, and the horrific years that so profoundly changed the world and the Jewish people.

In a text interwoven with and illuminated by more than 400 fascinating photographs, many of them never before published or long forgotten, we meet the widely dispersed turn-of-the-century Jewish communities of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Then we encounter, with startling immediacy, the impassioned Zionists who set out to reclaim Palestine and the immigrant waves that poured out of Eastern Europe in search of a better life in America—among them, the brilliantly creative writers, composers, actors, and comedians who enthralled millions; and the scientists, judges, legislators, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals whose numbers can hardly be counted but whose thoughts and deeds shaped the modern world.

There is tragedy in this the twentieth century saw many dark years during which the Jewish people suffered pogroms, persecution, and mass murder. But the century also saw the renewal and flourishing of the Jewish community, in America, in Israel, and throughout the Diaspora. The observant, the secular, the people
gathered from the ends of the earth—all figure in the vivid portrait of the Jews at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Sir Martin relates this astonishing and deeply moving story with the erudition and empathy that have always distinguished his writing, and with a masterful eye for the key point, the telling anecdote, the human detail that makes history come alive. While our memories are still fresh, he has fixed them indelibly in a volume that will be treasured, pored over, and passed down as the rich and definitive record of Jewish life in the twentieth century.

Genres: History, Jewish, World History, Religion, Politics, Nonfiction

376 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

The official biographer of Winston Churchill and a leading historian on the Twentieth Century, Sir Martin Gilbert was a scholar and an historian who, though his 88 books, has shown there is such a thing as “true history”

Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was educated at Highgate School, and Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with First Class Honours. He was a Research Scholar at St Anthony's College, and became a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford in 1962, and an Honorary Fellow in 1994. After working as a researcher for Randolph Churchill, Gilbert was chosen to take over the writing of the Churchill biography upon Randolph's death in 1968, writing six of the eight volumes of biography and editing twelve volumes of documents. In addition, Gilbert has written pioneering and classic works on the First and Second World Wars, the Twentieth Century, the Holocaust, and Jewish history.
Gilbert drove every aspect of his books, from finding archives to corresponding with eyewitnesses and participants that gave his work veracity and meaning, to finding and choosing illustrations, drawing maps that mention each place in the text, and compiling the indexes. He travelled widely lecturing and researching, advised political figures and filmmakers, and gave a voice and a name “to those who fought and those who fell.”

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Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book about the history of the Jews in the 20th century. Illustrated in 385 black & white printed photographs, reading and viewing the book takes us, the reader, through poignant times of the great and the small, the celebrated and the suffered; those times in the previous century wherein the Jews have contributed so much to the making of global history.
Recommended, especially for the photographs.

[Matty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting in every way