Customer Reviews

Jews in Germany: From Roman Times to the Weimar Republic

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In my view, this book stands as the best of its kind: a one-volume, fully illustrated reference. Don't be fooled...this is not a simple coffee table book. It is exhaustingly researched complete with a huge bibliography and fully footnoted. Nearly every page of every chapter is filled with pictures, photos, and the like. This book can either be read from cover to cover, or the reader can choose to read a chapter at a time...much like an encyclopedia.

I own a copy of this, I purchased a copy for my brother as a gift, and my Dad went out and bought one for himself after he read mine. I have seen these on sale at amazon.com for less than $6...do yourself a favor and take advantage of it.

This book tells a story that is often (and tragically) forgotten about: the history of German Jewry prior to the rise of the Nazis. In telling the story, Mr. Gidal makes great use of art as well as of text. Though he doesn't go into tremendous detail, he definitely covers the main thrusts and events of the German-Jewish experience. I was particularly interested in the status of Jews under Charlemagne and the early Holy Roman Empire, and in the gradual emancipation of German Jews from the 18th century onward. This book looks like a coffee-table book, but is nothing of the sort. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in German and/or Jewish history. It makes a great companion to The Pity of It All, by Amos Elon.

This is an outstanding history of the Jews of Germany from the Middle Ages to the time of Weimar. The book has especially colorful and interesting illustrations that truly add to one's feeling of the period and world being described.