Empire Jews: Jewish Nationalism and Acculturation in 19th and Early 20th Century Russia (The New Approaches to Russian and East European Culture) [Paperback]

Brian Horowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0893573493 | ISBN-13: 978-0893573492

In this unique book Brian Horowitz, Sizeler Family Chair Professor at Tulane University, articulates what is hidden in plain view: namely that many Jews in late-tsarist Russia were in love with its culture. Although they despised its government, large numbers of Jews eagerly joined Russian culture as members of the Russian cultural elite and participants in a distinct Russian-Jewish intelligentsia. Examining a broad range of figures and ideas at the heart of Jewish life during the revolutionary era at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Brian Horowitz casts radically new portraits of such central intellectuals as Shimon Ansky, Simon Dubnov, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Lev Shestov, Nikolai Berdyaev, and Mikhail Gershenzon, while reviving for the reader such forgotten heroes as Shimon Frug, Lev Levanda, Leib Jaffe, and Mikhail Morgulis. In the book Horowitz treats a broad panorama of subjects, encompassing legal studies, Jewish historiography, Jewish literature, Russian-Jewish relations, liberal politics, and Zionism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book will revive interest in some of the most complex figures of Russian Jewish intellectual history, many of whom have been widely forgotten. Russian Jewish intellectual history has largely concentrated on those who contributed to the two major utopian projects of the 20th century: Zionism and Socialism. In many ways, Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Jabotinsky have become metonyms for all Russian Jewish intellectual history. But there was actually a much greater diversity of intellectual debate taking place in Russia. [...] The essays here demonstrate clearly the close intersection between key Jewish thinkers and Russian elite culture of the late 19th and early 20th century, thereby challenging the conventional impression of Jewish isolation within the Russian Empire. --Jeffrey Veidlinger, Indiana University

The focus of the book is on Jewish intellectual history and the deep attraction of many Jews to Russian culture. It is wide-ranging, and the author is original both in his questions and his answers. ... a very important and stimulating contribution to our understanding of Russian Jewish history. --Shaul Stampfer, Hebrew University

Product Details

• Paperback: 305 pages
• Publisher: Slavica Pub (December 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893573493
• ISBN-13: 978-0893573492
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,087,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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