The Jews of Khazaria Second Edition

by Kevin Alan Brook (Author)

34 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0742549821

ISBN-10: 0742549828

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The Jews of Khazaria chronicles the history of the Khazars, a people who, in the early Middle Ages, founded a large empire in eastern Europe (located in present-day Ukraine and Russia). The Khazars played a pivotal role in world history. Khazaria was one of the largest-sized political formations of its time, an economic and cultural superpower connected to several important trade routes. It was especially notable for its religious tolerance, and in the 9th century, a large portion of the royal family converted to Judaism. Many of the nobles and commoners did likewise shortly thereafter. After their conversion, the Khazars were ruled by a succession of Jewish kings that began to adopt the hallmarks of Jewish civilization, including the Torah and Talmud, the Hebrew script, and the observance of Jewish holidays. In this thoroughly revised edition of a modern classic, The Jews of Khazaria explores many exciting new discoveries about the Khazars' religious life, economy, military, government, and culture. It builds upon new studies of the Khazars, evaluating and incorporating recent theories, along with new documentary and archaeological findings. The book gives a comprehensive accounting of the cities, towns, and fortresses of Khazaria, and features a timeline summarizing key events in Khazar history.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"As a full exploration in English of the history and culture of the Khazars, this volume is without equal..." --Edward J. Lazzerini, Visiting Professor of Central Eurasian History, Indiana University Bloomington

"a compendium of information gathered from every available source... a useful reference work" --James Howard-Johnston, Lecturer, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, Winter 2009

"a concise and readable digest... current and accessible... extremely valuable for its consolidation of this disparate material."
--Eve Krakowski, University of Chicago, in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, October 2011

About the Author

Kevin Alan Brook is a historian who has researched the Khazars since 1993. Since 1995, Brook has maintained the website Khazaria.com. He has lectured on the Khazars in Ontario, Ohio, and Massachusetts. He is the author of the following articles, among others:

"A Brief History of the Khazars" in Rabbi Korobkin's edition of The Kuzari: In Defense of the Despised Faith (Feldheim, 2009)
"Khazars and Judaism" in The Encyclopaedia of Judaism, Second Edition (Brill, 2005)
"Khazar Empire" in Encyclopedia of World Trade (M.E. Sharpe, 2005)
"Khazar-Byzantine Relations" in The Turks (Yeni Türkiye, 2002)
"The Origins of East European Jews" in Russian History/Histoire Russe, Spring-Summer 2003
"Jews in Medieval Armenia" in Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora (ABC-CLIO, 2008)

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Second edition (December 16, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0742549828
ISBN-13: 978-0742549821
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 34 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,094,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #794 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Religious Studies > Judaism
- #1661 in Books > History > World > Religious > Judaism
- #3000 in Books > History > Asia > Russia

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Liberty Hussein

Must have reference for study if Khazarian Jewry

August 27, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Brilliantly presented with ample historic sources documented. Whilst I do agree with other reviewers, that this is more-of-a textbook than a relaxing read, I found myself unable to put it down.

For me, I’m just reading this first time, but will almost-surely re-read and take notes as to the chronology and other important names/locations.

Having known little about my ancestors, I had my DNA analyzed. The raw data indicates that I am of Khazarian heritage. My family/birth name is Khagan.

I’d been reading mostly-vague, obscure references until this book was recommended to be by a medieval Europe historian. (I study pre-Greco-Roman.)

Scholarly and kind-of “mostly meat and little gravy,” it’s been worth the time and thought I’ve thus far invested in learning about my almost-forgotten heritage.

If you have an interest in Khazarian Jewry, this book is a must have, even if you use it as reference. The bibliography alone is worth the purchase price.

Highest praise and gratitude to Kevin Alan Brook.

One person found this helpful2 people found this helpful

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Brian G.

A vast improvement on an already impressive work

February 19, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Brook has accomplished what no-one since D.M. Dunlop (in his 1954 "History of the Jewish Khazars") has been able to do: He has written a comprehensive, up-to-date, scrupulously researched and scholarly account of the amazing history of the Khazars. Better still, he has done so in a manner that is accessible to the layman as well as to historians.

Brook, a layman himself (albeit a lay expert), has meticulously collected thousands of tidbits of historical knowledge and lore from a myriad of primary and secondary sources

Brook's first edition (published by Jason Aaronson in 1999) was a masterpiece in and of itself, but it was flawed by the certainty of certain controversial assertions (such as that the conversion of the Khazars took place in 861) which have, over the course of only a few years, become outdated by dramatic new discoveries in numismatics and archaeology. This second edition of Brook's magnum opus corrects many errors and also includes information on new discoveries, organized into convenient, intuitive and well-cited sections (including "The Origins of the Khazars", "The Khazars' Conversion to Judaism", and "Relations between the Khazars and other People".)

Khazar history is brought to life through discussions of trade, religion, daily life, language, and many other issues. Anyone interested in Jewish, Eastern European or Eurasian history, or anyone who fancies themselves a polymath, would be remiss if they failed to purchase and read this book.

23 people found this helpful24 people found this helpful

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FAIQ A. GUL

I love reading textbook style writing

November 14, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I love reading textbook style writing, but this book is extremely tedious. Not a joy to read... but will be good for in depth analysis on the subject.

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

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VA 6

March 29, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

For a history buff, I thought this was an excellent read.

I wanted to learn more about the remarkable empire that was Khazaria, and this book did an excellent job. As a bonus, I enjoyed the detailed history of the Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. I had no idea there were so many enclaves!

My only complaint is that the book starts off a little slow. You have to get thru the first chapter or two, but then it seems to take off like a rocket. I couldn't put it down after that.

6 people found this helpful7 people found this helpful

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P.K. Ryan

Informative but Extremely Dry

November 28, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

To be perfectly frank, this is one of the more boring books I have ever read. Then again, I read it solely for a research paper so if you are actually interested in the subject you will probably enjoy it more than me. That being said, it was chock full of details, and obviously meticulously researched. It appears that this is THE ONLY recent (and reliable) work on the Khazars, which probably explains why it is so over-priced. Therefore, it is certainly valuable for it's rarity alone.

Anyway, the book gives a thorough description of the Khazars from their pre-Jewish origins as a Turkic people, through the conversion, and the building of, and subsequent decline of the Khazarian empire, which included a diaspora of Khazarian Jews into Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Brook finishes with a discussion of whether or not the Khazars are the ancestors of the modern day Ashkenazi Jews. So, this might not be the most compelling read, but if you're looking to learn about the Khazars, you don't have much choice! Four stars.

11 people found this helpful12 people found this helpful

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BarbRad

Jews of Khazaria is Educational but Boring

November 16, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Jews of Khazaria is interesting, educational, and very dry. This is a scholarly work that should be read for educational purposes only. However, I never dreamed there was a Jewish state in what we now call "the stans."

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

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Nadene Goldfoot

The Jews of Khazaria second edition by Kevin Alan Brook

October 30, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The Jews of Khazaria is a brilliant work of incredible research written in a very interesting manner. This is a group of Turkish people from the early midieval period that has been overlooked in most history books, perhaps mentioned in a few sentences. Kevin Brook has managed to find out so much on the history of Jews. Up to the 10th century Khazaria covered area from the northern Caucasus and the Volga delta to Kiev. I thought after having a Y DNA test and finding that the male side of my family were rather rare Q haplogroup that we would also be from Khazaria but that may not be true. Nevertheless, I have learned a great deal about a part of my history that I had never known about.

5 people found this helpful6 people found this helpful

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word

Four Stars

February 13, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Enlightening.

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