Jews, God and History

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Summary: The best history on the survival of the Jewish race.
Review: Of all the Jewish histories I have read, Jews, God & History best describes the survival of not only the Jewish race and religion, but the actual idea of being Jewish. To paraphrase Joseph Heller in God Knows -- If God chose to flood the world again, Jews would learn to breath under water. This is the idea behind Max Dimont's wonderful little history (although Mr. Heller wrote God Knows after Mr. Dimont's book -- but as they say, "great minds think alike"). Read, learn and enjoy this masterpiece of Jewish history.

Rating:
Summary: Good overview of Jewish history for the general reader
Review: This is an outstanding overview of Jewish history for the general reader. It is tremendously rich in information and written with an underlying warmth and sympathy that move the reader greatly. It is a good introduction but should not be the only book the reader reads on the subject.

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Summary: Great secular overview for Jews and Gentiles
Review: This is the best book about Jewish history that I have ever read. It is writen mostly from a secular point of view. Very intresting is his in depth knowledge of the hellenistic period and how the Greeks heavily influenced Jewish thougt and visa versa. He goes into brutish period of the Roman domination and many of the rulers from titus, romulus and Herrod the Great. He tells how the Jews have survived when so many of the other civilizations faded. One important factor was the Talamud because it was a code for Jews living in Diaspora. He also covers the many splits in Judaism that have occured throughout time. He ends talking about the formation of the state of Israel. If you are a closed minded person then you may have trouble with Dimonts up front writing. Jew, G-d and History is a keeper for any book collection!