La historia de los judíos. Vol. I

A seminal work on a culture, a people, and a world from one of today's
most prestigious and stimulating historians

Simon Schama narrates the history of the Jews over three millennia,
from their origins as a tribe in antiquity to the present; a unique
story of resistance to disappearance, of creativity under oppression,
joy amidst misfortune, and the affirmation of life against all odds.

Schama traverses centuries and continents, from India to Andalusia,
from the bazaars of Cairo to the streets of Oxford; and visits
unimaginable places: a Jewish kingdom in the mountains of southern
Arabia; a Syrian synagogue covered with brilliant murals; the palm trees
of Jewish burials in the Roman catacombs. And he manages to make voices
heard clearly: the severity and joy of the authors of the Bible, or the
love poetry of wine enthusiasts in a garden in Muslim Spain.

In "The Story of the Jews," the Talmud burns in the streets of Paris,
gallows preside over the squares of medieval London, a Mallorcan artisan
redraws the world; candles are lit, psalms are sung, mules are loaded,
and ships full of spices and jewels are shipwrecked.

Thus unfolds an extraordinary story. Not of a distinct culture, as is
often assumed, but of a Jewish world immersed in and shaped by the
peoples among whom they have lived, from the Egyptians to the Greeks,
from the Arabs to the Christians. Because the history of the Jews is
also the history of everyone else, our history.

Critics have said...

«A splendid work that debunks stereotypes and recounts triumphs and
tragedies with verve and eloquence.»

David Abulafia, Financial Times

«Schama writes history from below, and from the middle, and from other
unexpected angles, recovering the unrecorded or long-forgotten, and
analyzing the social and cultural forces that shaped the lives of his
characters. It is an achievement full of literary grace and personal
style.»

New York Times Book Review

«An exuberant masterpiece.»

Simon Sebag Montefiore, Daily Mail

"The best of Schama, a carefully and lovingly crafted work, as replete
with memorable anecdotes as a Bellow novel and more intelligent than a
Woody Allen film."

Daniel Johnson, The Times

«Schama's "The Story of the Jews" is a model work of historical
dissemination. Lively, cultured, attentive to the latest historiography
and, at times, charmingly subjective.»

New York Times

«In this brilliant history of the Jews, the unorthodox professor somehow
manages to be simultaneously sentimental and subversive, moderate and
dissident, and readers are the richer for it.»

Haaretz

«Moving and fascinating.»

Los Angeles Times