The Grandees: The Story of America's Sephardic Elite [Paperback]

Stephen Birmingham (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815604599
• ISBN-13: 978-0815604594
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #871,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brought a whole history of people to vivid life, February 21, 2010

By 

Tamar Fleishman - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grandees: The Story of America's Sephardic Elite (Paperback)

I didn't know much about the Sephardim, though I have am descended from some. I was fascinated about the Jewish-Moorish links and also, the prominence of so many Jews in Spain, Italy, Portugal, before the Inquisition. The characters virtually sprang off the page, though of course the details available for those of later date were more available than for the Dark Ages. I would have been fascinated to know more about that...

It was also interesting to learn about the entangled family trees.

To the other reviewer, I'd note that people always want to read about scandal and actions outside the ordinary. And it is certainly true that like any other preeminent members of society, they were exclusive in nature rather than inclusive.

I bought this book originally as a souvenir at the State Museum of Virginia in Richmond over a year ago and it's remarkable how many details I still remember. The book really sticks to you!

Plus, it really adds to other areas of study that you may follow -- whether you are into Medieval era, Dark Ages, weaponry/torture, the Diaspora, Colonial Era, Jewish-Arab relations, the Catholic Church.

24 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating picture of a closed society, October 16, 1999

By 

Katherine F. Peake (Fredericksburg, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grandees: The Story of America's Sephardic Elite (Paperback)

This book does what good histories should do, open up doors to inaccessible places. Well written and incisive, it tracks a part of our history not well known. Especially fascinating were the accounts of how the first 44 came to America, and the story of the Civil War admiral. I'll read more of his books.

26 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A book filled with bias and errors, October 8, 2002

By 

Alfassa "alfassa" (La Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grandees: The Story of America's Sephardic Elite (Paperback)

In 1971 when Birmingham (who is not Jewish himself) released this book, the Foundation For The Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture in New York City put out four formal reviews on Stephen Birmingham's book. The reviews were by people from the academic community WITHIN the very community he wrote about.

The Foundation For The Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture wrote: "...Mr. Birmingham addressed a gathering on October 10th, 1968 at Shearith Israel [the very congregation he writes about in his book], Mr. Louis N. Levy, the president of the Foundation, asked Mr. Birmingham whether he proposed to write on the Balkan Sephardim. For some reason the audience burst into laughter and the answer was not heard."

One of the reviews was the Rabbi of the very congregation the book is based on "Marc Angel". He wrote: "Birmingham is so eager to show that the "Grandees" are aloof and snobby, that he ignores reality. He interprets things as he wants them to be, not as they are." Rabbi Angel also wrote: "His book is plagued with factual inaccuracies and poor historical perspectives. Unfortunately, many Jews and non-Jews are reading the book and are having their opinions molded by it because they know little or nothing about Sephardim."

The well-respected Sephardic scholar David N. Barocas wrote of the Grandees: "To rely on hearsay information, or to select at random passages from books and then try to weave them into the fabric of one's text or report constitutes in the final analysis a combination of misstatements, incomplete truths and factual omissions tending to present a perverted opinion of an innocent people."

There are many good books out there which are acurate, unfortunatly this is not one of them. It was written by an outsider of the community. It is biased, and does give a good example of the Sephardic community.