The Making of the Jewish Middle Class: Women, Family, and Identity in Imperial Germany (Studies in Jewish History (Oxford Paperback)) [Paperback]

Marion A. Kaplan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Studies in Jewish History (Oxford Paperback) | Publication Date: September 22, 1994

A social history of Jewish women in Imperial Germany, this study synthesizes German, women's, and Jewish history. The book explores the private--familial and religious--lives of the German-Jewish bourgeoisie and the public roles of Jewish women in the university, paid employment and social service. It analyzes the changing roles of Jewish women as members of an economically mobile, but socially spurned minority. The author emphasizes the crucial role women played in creating the Jewish middle class, as well as their dual role within the Jewish family and community as powerful agents of class formation and acculturation and determined upholders of tradition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating reconceptualization of German-Jewish history which is both fact-filled and scholarly as well as eminently readable."--Lilith

"Charts a fascinating process of class building and identity construction."--Labor History

"This exciting new social history of Jewish women in Wilhelmine Germany constitutes a pathbreaking contribution....Kaplan's highly original study...significantly deepens our understanding of Jewish history, women's history, and German history....Dramatically reshapes the way we understand the German-Jewish past."--American Historical Review

"In her earlier work on German Jewish woman, Marion Kaplan ventured to attack tricky, emotion-laden subjects without the usual preconceptions and with impeccable scholarship. Now, in broadening her canvas, she once again sheds far more light than heat, and her readers have good reason to be grateful."--Peter Gay, Yale University

"First-rate social history. With great empathy for her subjects, Kaplan reveals the structural realities and emotional significance of Jewish class and ethnicity in Germany."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History

About the Author

Marion A. Kaplan is at City University of New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195093968
• ISBN-13: 978-0195093964
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true achievement, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Making of the Jewish Middle Class: Women, Family, and Identity in Imperial Germany (Studies in Jewish History (Oxford Paperback)) (Paperback)

This is a richly rewarding, unforgettable book that will fascinate not only students of Jewish or German history, but anyone interested in modern history in general. Of the book's many virtues, the one I appreciate most is the justice it does to the extraordinary role of German-Jewish women in the development of social welfare and women's rights organizations in pre-1933 Germany. After I read this treasure, I reflected on another book I read entitled Great Jewish Women; unforgivably it profiled Goldie Hawn and Ann Landers but had nary a mention of truly towering figures like Alice Salomon, the founder of modern social work in Germany, and "Soup Kitchen Lina" Morgenstern, whose herculean, selfless and pioneering efforts on behalf of veterans, children and women were all the more admirable given the anti-Semitism of the times. Kaplan's book provides a sorely needed perspective on what really astonishing achievements are all about.