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The Invention of the Jewish People Paperback – June 14, 2010

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,186 ratings

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A historical tour de force, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a groundbreaking account of Jewish and Israeli history. Exploding the myth that there was a forced Jewish exile in the first century at the hands of the Romans, Israeli historian Shlomo Sand argues that most modern Jews descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered across the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

In this iconoclastic work, which spent nineteen weeks on the Israeli bestseller list and won the coveted Aujourd’hui Award in France, Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel’s future.

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,186 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book scholarly and educational. They describe it as an engrossing and enjoyable read. The writing quality is described as detailed and accessible to lay readers. Readers praise the book's heartfelt arguments and consider it worthy of respect. Many appreciate the rigor and depth of the materials used. However, opinions differ on whether the historical perspective is accurate or fictional.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

71 customers mention "Scholarly content"68 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's scholarly content detailed and educational. They appreciate the references and research. The historical chapters are lively and written in colloquial language. Readers describe the writing as bold, intelligent, and well-translated.

"...even the wrong headed and the hasbara liars-- they produce such marvelous thinking and have such kind hearts..." Read more

"...This book is monumental in its insight, research and revelation...." Read more

"...The Invention of the Jewish People" is an interesting yet controversial scholarly book about Jewish history through the eyes of leading historian..." Read more

"...This book is a provocative and thought-provoking read that invites a reevaluation of deeply ingrained historical myths." Read more

57 customers mention "Readability"57 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and enjoyable to read. They appreciate its critical insights and scientific approach. The book is described as thought-provoking and entertaining, though some readers feel it's controversial.

"...too and you'll see that, though a pain in the ass, they are well worth putting up with and trying to keep up with their genius because beneath it..." Read more

"...After the first 100 pages or so, the book becomes very interesting. There are footnotes at the bottom of each page, and a robust index...." Read more

"...This book is a provocative and thought-provoking read that invites a reevaluation of deeply ingrained historical myths." Read more

"...In this reviewer's opinion, The Invention of the Jewish People is worth reading for these critical observations alone, as nationalism has been and..." Read more

40 customers mention "Writing quality"29 positive11 negative

Customers appreciate the book's writing quality. They find it well-written and accessible to lay readers. The information is presented in a readable format, separating myth from reality. The chapters are lively and written in colloquial language. The links work great, the notes are excellent, and the translation is accurate. Overall, readers praise the author's talent and consider the book a valuable testimony for history.

"...17. Fascinating conclusions. 18. Links worked great. 19. Excellent notes. 20. Great afterword. Negatives: 1...." Read more

"...is not a history -- it's historiography, a book about the evolution of historical writing: who the authors were, the historians' backgrounds,..." Read more

"...most important European languages, he has given a complete and deep picture of the question...." Read more

"...These two books-- Evron and Sands-- are hard to read. Afterall, guys who learn European languages think like European in complex sentences...." Read more

5 customers mention "Heart"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's heart. They find it to be a fine addition to traditions and a beautiful argument. The book is described as professional and surgical.

"...: Sands and Evron will make you understand and see what BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ISRAELIS ARE and what victims they are of insecurity, fearing betrayal by..." Read more

"As one of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, I feel this book worthy of tremendous respect...." Read more

"...Mr. Sand's book is an extremely fine addition to those traditions." Read more

"Beautiful Argument..." Read more

5 customers mention "Rigor"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's conclusions credible and gutsy. They appreciate the author's serious, rigorous style with a robust index. The book contains deep-sourced materials and is a good read for scholars.

"...There are footnotes at the bottom of each page, and a robust index...." Read more

"I like Sand's style: serious, rigorous, somewhat ironic and very entertaining if your are interested in the subject matter, which is Jewish identity...." Read more

"Brilliant research supporting some astonishing but credible and gutsy conclusions...." Read more

"...Wonderful insights of course, and DEEPLY sourced materials! I would highly recommend!" Read more

16 customers mention "Historical accuracy"11 positive5 negative

Customers have different views on the historical accuracy of the book. Some find it challenging and accurate, exploring the history beyond today's time. They appreciate the interesting discussions about nationhood in the abstract. Others feel it is fiction and pseudoscience.

"A fascinating history of how a political movement has turned the world's most diverse, morally-correct culture into an ethno-centric blood-creed of..." Read more

"...These conditions were accompanied by new political notions, primary amongst them, the rule of law and the classless identity politics which..." Read more

"...Sand refers to this ethnic identity as "wholly fictitious [but] discriminatory" and portrays Jews as "a heterogeneous mosaic of human populations"..." Read more

"...book is mostly of interest to Israelis as it has much discussion of national laws and policies...." Read more

Real Estate Theft has taken place in palestine!
5 out of 5 stars
Real Estate Theft has taken place in palestine!
After reading this book, written from an honest, secular point of view, how does one justify the real estate theft that has taken place in Palestine?-Pastor Matt Furse (author of "Who is Israel?")
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2011
    also read: Evron's JEWISH STATE OR ISRAELI NATION?

    Sands is a scholar's scholar. I think any Arab or Palestinian who decides to take revenge on Israel and kill all the Jews should first spend a year at an Israeli university. There you find truly beautiful minds with giant hearts. There you find the real Jewish Ethic struggling with the Zionist Myth. There you find thinking, debating, talking and delving into complexity as you find nowhere else.

    If you think we need another Holocaust to rid the world of Jews,then write down your reasons on a paper, put it in your pocket, and go to any Israeli university. There you will see that your reasons apply to no one there. You will see that Jewish intellect-- even Israeli intellect-- cannot be characterized in any generality as Jewish/Israeli intellect is always: SIX OF THE WORLD'S BEST MINDS ARGUING ENDLESSLY OVER SEVEN OPINIONS. So how could you have a reason to love them, to hate them, to be neutral towards them....IT IS AN ENDLESS ROLLERCOSTER RIDE!!!! Their intellect cannot be pinned down to this and that. All you can say is that Israelis/Jews are divers. They love to dive into the darkness of complexity and bring back to the light of understanding to the surface. Then, only then, ask yourself if you really want to destroy these monuments to human evolution.

    Israel is not where you find perfection. But it is where you find endless contemplation. Israelis are *SECRETLY* constantly searching their souls asking: WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME? They have been over-propagandized with the HOLOCAUST and think it is an INEVITABLE fate, like a Sword of Damocles, hanging over their heads. They are scared that 1) Diaspora Jews will abandon them; b) that their past lack of mensch-hood will come to haunt them and cause them to become victims again and; 3) that everyone hates them because they think they are miserable people. Well, my father was just like an Israeli Jew. That is because he is an East European. We are not very easy to take. Me, I'm far more traveled than my dad and never felt compelled to prove myself to others or to compete in order to survive. But East Euros are all like that. I'm more like my mom-- East Euro women are wonderful, like Asian women. They are everything the men are not. Well, Sands, like Boas Evron, is trying to tell you that, when you strip the Zionist myths of some sort of blood line identity, what you've got is the best of Eastern Europe because the Jews who "came back to the Holy Land" are really East Euros from a long line of converts. You see, Judaism spread north far, far faster than it could through reproduction and migration. Like Christianity, it was Middle Eastern monotheist mysticism that got right to the heart of East Euros.

    Unfortunately, Israel is really East Euros who rightly despised how they were treated by their fellow East Euros so they moved to Palestine and there are treating the Arabs exactly as they were treated. Hey, no one is perfect!

    These two books-- Evron and Sands-- are hard to read. Afterall, guys who learn European languages think like European in complex sentences. None of the American type: "Jack and Jill went up the hill. Jack turned to Jill. Jill said "what?" Jack jumped her bones. Jill loved it...." No, it's more like: "Jack, step by step, Jill's right hand in his left--eyes fixed on her small (nevertheless succulent cleavage"-- and those ankles...Lord God, how did you think of making such ankles...so gracefully walking up the hill-- made love fire up his brain and desire burn in his loins....." Get what I mean?

    But don't be put off by that, nor by the small print. When you read them both, you are left wondering: my God, from afar Israelis all seem like Zionazis. Yet, there they go, producing such deep introspection. Everyone of these books that you would imagine would produce a scandal about Zionism and surely would be suppressed by American Zionists, labeling them "anti-Semitic," in fact, are common fare in Israel and create quite a discussion. Why? Because Israelis are the sabra children of East Euro's best intellectuals. Sabra is a prickly plant and that they are indeed, but they are the BEST minds of a Europe that may have been primitive and wild but, nevertheless, regarded its intellectuals as gifts from God. It is unfortunate that they so mistreated their Jews. But you see, East Euros ALWAYS HURT THE ONE THEY LOVE and live the rest of their lives in tragedy. I'd say the main problem is that we're kind of paranoid and, therefore, extremely jealous. Take Stalin, he came to love Jews as his mentors and teachers as he moved from the path of an Eastern Orthodox monk to that of a Communist revolutionary. But as soon as he saw Golda Meyer come to Moscow as Israel's ambassador and how Jews bowed to her in admiration as a rep from the world's first Jewish State, he got jealous and began the Doctors' Plot. Everything is a lot more complicated to be sure, but there's truth in what I say. Jews in East Europe are OF US so they are like us....That's why no one likes them as no one likes us: because we're perpetual drama queens. But go to Israel and see how--even the wrong headed and the hasbara liars-- they produce such marvelous thinking and have such kind hearts (though they have an inferiority complex, are paranoid and very jealous types) that you leave wondering: HOW THE HELL COULD ANYONE HATE THESE PEOPLE. Well, then read BLOODLANDS to see what a murderous place East Euro was through the 1930s and 40s. I can't believe that I'm still alive. Perhaps, the East Euro Israelis should intermarry with the Italian ones to soften their edges. But, be that as it may, these two books: Sands and Evron will make you understand and see what BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ISRAELIS ARE and what victims they are of insecurity, fearing betrayal by their kin in Diaspora-- that's what they think will bring about their Holocaust. Yet, when you get Israeli Jews and Arabs together, invariably you realize: Wow, these guys are family...it just clicks perfectly.

    So read about Israeli Jews and Arabs and East Euro too and you'll see that, though a pain in the ass, they are well worth putting up with and trying to keep up with their genius because beneath it all is the best heart of mankind. I would love nothing more than to end my days as a goy olim making my aliyah to Israel where I'd be on their turf and nobody there would tell me: "you can't talk about that because if you question in any way Zionist exceptionalism, you're an anti-Semite. No way, in Israel you've got brilliant intellectuals who-- if they're not doing brilliant science-- are disemboweling all their myths subjecting them to philosophical inquiry.

    In conclusion, what I'm saying is read anything an Israeli writes introspectively because you know it is profound, in no way self-sparing (even brutal) and will make you think, think, think. In America that's exactly what we need to do to avoid waking up one morning and realizing that we're nothing but a bunch of chimps who can only say: "SAVE ME JESUS!"

    Reading Jewish self-criticism or inteospection is the best way to immunize yourself against anti-Semitsm and to see what a wonderful home for your mind is an Israeli cafe. As soon as Arabs realize that, there will be wonderful family gatherings between the two....all it takes is tweeking Israeli's East Euro craziness. Sands is a perfect example of mensch-hood with limitless intellectual courage. But the fine print and torturous Englsih syntax...oy!
    62 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2010
    A fascinating history of how a political movement has turned the world's most diverse, morally-correct culture into an ethno-centric blood-creed of cultural imperialism.

    It is written by a secular Jewish professor of History, who worked in France and now teaches in Tel Aviv University.

    This book is a history book. The first 100 pages or so beyond the introduction (which is beautiful) is very dry history or European Nationalism. It is tedious reading for the lay person but it sets the stage for the rest of the book.

    This book is monumental in its insight, research and revelation. The only shortcoming is that some of the sentences are structurally complex and must be read slowly. This could have been caused by the difficulties is translating from Hebrew to English.

    You might have noticed that the reviewers of this book either loved it or hated it, as evidenced by 5 Star and 1 star review rating numbers are much more than 2, 3, or 4 star ratings.

    There an obvious reason for that. Sand makes a simple case, based on solid history and references, that the "Jewish race" is an invention of European elitists, driven by the perceived need to nationalize a morally correct, religious, mystical culture. Zionism turned the historic character of this culture on its head.

    Shlomo simply shows that the tribal perception that all Jews are related by blood, has been exploited to the maximum, and Sand proves this "Jewish" association to be totally false. Judaism is/was a religious ethnic group/culture through most of its history, and only recently has been remodeled primarily as a blood-identity ethnic group.

    Many Palestinians could have more of the original tribal "Jewish blood" than do the Eastern European converts that now oppress them. Few rural Jewish farmers were ever "driven into exile" and may well have converted to Islam centuries ago to keep their farms, and to keep his/her family from scattering into abject poverty and/or homelessness in the wilderness, either of which could have been literally life-threatening.

    The great coversions to Judaism in Eastern Europe, North of the Black Sea, in the 700-1000 CE centuries were never recognized by the Zionist, as they rallied Jewish people to believe they were all "bloodline" inheritors of the holy land. This ignoring of historical conversions was essential for the tribal consciousness required to justify the Zionists terrorists seizing farms from indigenous people of former Palestine.

    The first 100 pages of the text is difficult reading, as Sand teaches us about the world race towards nationalism in the 20th and 19th century, of which Nazi Germany was the most notorious example. There were rediculous myths and stories of nations' blood line identities in many countries and ethnic groups. The European Jewish people were no different and started the Zionist movement around the turn of the century.

    After the first 100 pages or so, the book becomes very interesting. There are footnotes at the bottom of each page, and a robust index.

    The book ends declaring that one true democratic State (not a two-state solution; and not an exclusive "Jewish State") of all Israelis, and a right of return for both the indigenous Palestinians as well as Jews, is the only way to peace in Israel.

    That's why this book is so contraversial.
    93 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Dioniso
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfetto
    Reviewed in Italy on September 27, 2024
    Perfetto
  • Gerald Watts
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for understanding the ongoing conflict.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2023
    I bought and read this book in Kindle form after the outbreak of yet another military Israel-Palestine conflict with terrible consequences for civilians. I thought that I had a reasonably good grasp of the history of the conflict but Shlomo Sand has proven me wrong with his masterful book.
    The emphasis of the book is on identity and the concepts of ‘people’ and ‘nation’, as applied to the state of Israel. He sets the scene in the first chapter, where he explains that in the Israeli university system there is a complete separation between departments of ‘History’ and ‘Jewish History’, the latter being where the Biblical myths of Jewish origin, exile and the Chosen People are preserved and disseminated within the school education system.
    One reason why I was attracted to this book was that back in the seventies I read Arthur Koestler’s book The Thirteenth Tribe about the Khazar kingdom, which converted en masse to Judaism during the so-called ‘dark ages’ (I had also read Koestler’s excellent Thieves in the Night about the early post-war Palestine during the British Mandate).
    Shlomo Sand provides a convincing historical context for the Khazar conversion by considering it in the context of many other accounts of conversion to Judaism across North Africa and in the Arabian peninsula, all of which are denied or ignored by the Jewish History establishment.
    I finished the book this morning by reading the Afterword, in which Shlomo reflects in depth on the issues raised in the book and the angry criticism that it has generated in some quarters, before discussing the global trends that he sees as challenging for the current Israeli state and the identity myths that it conserves and propagates. As I write this review, some of his predictions seem to be borne out by a shift in global sentiment. Thank you for such a powerful educational experience, Shlomo!
  • jonathan moises
    5.0 out of 5 stars Regalo
    Reviewed in Mexico on April 19, 2020
    Buen libro y excelente el tiempo de envio para regalo
  • Amazon Kunde
    5.0 out of 5 stars higly worth reading
    Reviewed in Germany on May 27, 2018
    I highly recommend this comprehensive and very well written book by Shlomo Sand. For people interested in why politics drives into certain directions and leads to path dependency, into apparently ineluctable stable constellations, Sand recapitulates modern instruments in historical sciences since the 1980ies, that is to say the reality of constructivism in its consequences, and comes back to the politics of normative definition, decisive in politics. Worthwile view on the concept of "nation" and and "nationalism" in the modern age adapted to the specific subject matter.
    If one is interested in humanities: An interesting and important lens for the wish to understand the sociopolitical situation in the middle-east. Moreover: Very well written.
  • Bernard Bayon de Noyer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good and interesting book, well documented.
    Reviewed in France on August 16, 2017
    Good and interesting book, well written and well documented. Not that easy to read, the work of a great scholar.