Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews [Hardcover]

Albert S. Lindemann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521593697 | ISBN-13: 978-0521593694 | Publication Date: August 28, 1997 | Edition: First Edition. 1n in number line

Esau's Tears explores the rise of modern racial-political anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. Previous histories have been more concerned with description than analysis and most have lacked balance. The evidence presented in this volume suggests that anti-Semitism in these years was more ambiguous than usually presented, less pervasive and central to the lives of both Jews and non-Jews, and by no means clearly pointed to a rising hatred of Jews everywhere, even less to the likelihood of mass murder. Hatred of Jews was not as mysterious or incomprehensible as often presented, but may be related to the differing perceptions of the rise of the Jews in modern times.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this very thorough interpretive history, Lindemann (history, Univ. of California at Santa Barbara) traces anti-Semitism from approximately 1870 until the rise of Hitler. Lindemann argues provocatively that with the rise of Jews in intellectual matters, politics, and commerce, a modern ideology of anti-Semitism likewise arose, aimed primarily at curbing what its advocates perceived as "the power of the Jews." Lindemann argues that this new anti-Semitism likewise varied in intensity from country to country and was usually not a central factor in the lives of either Jews or Gentiles. The most interesting section discusses the relationship between 19th-century socialism and anti-Semitism. Written in a popular style, this book can be recommended for both larger public libraries and academic libraries.?Mark Weber, Kent State Univ. Lib., Ohio
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A richly informative, if highly problematic, overview of anti- Jewish bigotry and violence between the 1870s, when the term ``anti-Semitism'' was coined, and the Holocaust. Lindemann (History/Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara), who has written previously on Dreyfus and other anti-Semitic cases, here focuses largely on Germany and France, with lesser attention to Russia, Great Britain, the US, Italy, Hungary, and Romania. (Curiously, a section on the interwar years almost entirely omits Poland, a country with a deep anti-Semitic tradition.) He correctly posits an indirect line between the racist anti-Semitism that characterized the beginning of the period and what Daniel Goldhagen calls the ``eliminationist'' ethos that led to the Holocaust. Lindemann also makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of both long-term socioeconomic and short-term political contingencies behind the expression of anti-Semitism. He reveals the ``comparative quality and texture in expressions of anti-Jewish sentiment'' by demonstrating that most major anti-Semites and philo-Semites were more complex than their labels would indicate. However, Lindemann's penchant for nuance ultimately takes its toll. While there is an indisputable correlation between the rise of Jewish power and influence during the 19th and 20th centuries and the intensification of political and intellectual anti-Semitism, the author comes very close to suggesting that there is a clear-cut causal relationship between the two. Thus, he refers to modern anti-Semitism as ``transparently an ideology of revenge'' and alludes to the supposed ``Jewish sense of superiority (including certain kinds of measurable Jewish superiority) and the envy/hatred it has engendered.'' Finally, Lindemann, who calls for scholars to engage in a nonpolemical study of anti-Semitism, himself lapses into highly charged statements and rhetorical questions in an odd, rambling conclusion. There's much provocative, compelling material here, but the author's conclusions are too often contradictory or unpersuasive. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; First Edition. 1n in number line edition (August 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521593697
• ISBN-13: 978-0521593694
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,194,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Honest effort, February 24, 2004

By 

Donald B. Siano (Westfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews (Paperback)

This is a scholarly work on the origin and nature of anti-semitism and its history from the 1870's to the eve of the holocaust. It very efficiently refutes the failed interpretations of the Jewish apologists, whose claim that it is a causeless, inexplicable pathology of the non-Jews--independent of anything the Jews do, or even of their very presence, and is rooted in the Christian theology of deicide. It is, according to these morons, the province of a primitive impulse of the ignorant, something like the primitive's unreasoned abhorrence for ghosts and goblins.

Lindemann painstakingly shows the real complexity of the phenomenon, varying in time and place. He effectively proves that it is just another manifestation of the interaction of distinct peoples, with its quite understandable jealousies and hatreds brought on by competition for the goods of capitalism and modernity. There is nothing transcendental or ineffable about it, and can be understood by anyone able to think dispassionately and are susceptible to the arguments of the historical science. Most of what is written about it today, colored as it is by the propaganda of the holocaust, he persuasively claims, is the hooey of hysterics and the balderdash of the self-deceived. Moving decisively away from the by now traditional, emotional recitation of the injustice found in their over-worked narrative, toward a reasoned view enlightened by facts and data, he rises above such unreasoned nonsense and so will surely be accused of anti-semitism himself.

I especially appreciated his analysis of the phenomenon in Russia, and the background for the pogrom in Kishenev, is described in some detail. I was amazed to read how the Jews greatly exaggerated their claims, hoping for greater compensation from the West, which Lindemann is unafraid to relate.

His tools and method of analysis unfortunately ignores the important insights afforded by evolutionary psychology, a la Kevin MacDonald in his three volume series. Read together, they usefully complement one another.

His writing style, while rather that of an academic, is quite lucid and the material is well organized. This is a big book, perhaps a bit longer than it needs to be, but it is a serious antidote to all the baloney written on this topic, and the interested reader will be well rewarded by the exposure to an honest treatment of it.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lucid, frank, serious, informative, June 27, 2004

By 

Alan Turing "transient" (Fair Lawn, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews (Paperback)

This is the second book by Albert Lindemann i read - again with pleasure. Being a professional historian, he's also a gifted, even talanted writer and philosopher. He has his own, very recognizable style, sometimes witty and aphoristic, sometimes deep and thoughtful.

The book touches upon many "uncomfortable" issues, especially for a Jew, because any Jew, who attempts to come up with some more balanced approach to those issues, is immediately labeled "self-hating".

Fortunately, Lindemann's credentials as a historian let his voice be heard, even if there are attempts to discredit his work. What is especially attractive, Lindemann never degrades himself (neither in his books nor in the exchanges on the Internet) by indulging in acrimony and accusations, so pervasive in writings of his opponents.

To appreciate Lindemann's depth as a philosopher, one only needs to read the last chapter of this book, "Epilogue and Conclusions". It deserves, to my taste, to be published separately, as a very profound essay of Jewish history and their position in the modern world.

I found chapters about Jews in Italy, about history of fascism in that country, especially interesting, but the chapters on Russian Revolution and Nazi Germany also contain many interesting facts about such supposedly well-known figures like Trotsky and Hitler.

Here's a quote from the last chapter of Lindemann's book: "My inspiration ... is captured in the deceptively simple words of a famous Jew, Baruch Spinoza: "With regard to human affairs, not to laugh, not to cry, not to become indignant, but to understand."

36 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Reading for Understanding Our World, April 3, 2000

By 

Pen name "vrabitta" (Lego Land, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews (Hardcover)

Lindemann demonstrates quite convincingly why antisemitism hasso often occurred where Jews have taken up residence. The process isinteractive, and the result is variegated, sometimes transitory and sometimes violent. The cliches (i.e., "envious Gentiles") are fully dispelled and replace with compelling and nuanced insights.

At nearly 600 pages Esau's Tears is more than historical analysis--it is packed with perceptive views on culture, people, ideas, writings and events of the modern period. Early into this engrossing work I realized that one cannot possibly understand our world and society without the prism of Jewish-Gentile relations as the definitive perspective. Esau's Tears is surely the best book to provide that.

It also serves as a counter-weight to recent polemical excesses, such as "Hitler's Willing Executioners," and steers us back from the emotive, ahistorical ruminations of others. At this critical point in the dialogue, Lindemann offers a dose of sense, logic and evidence. Esau's Tears is so temperate and balanced, in fact, that I honestly could not decide whether its author was Jewish or Gentile until well into it.

Lindemann's style is clear, engaging and far above the expected academic norm as a pleasurable experience. At times he writes provocatively, yet always with sensitivity and fairness.

I was disappointed only in Lindemann's omission of a few topics of my own interest, such as his take the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and why it found an audience. I would have liked to learn more on modern Christian antisemitism. Yet, even with these few gaps, Esau's Tears is a masterpiece, and rarely have I been sorrier to reach the conclusion of any book. In sum it is probably the best historical study I've ever read.