Unsettled: An Anthropology of the Jews

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful sweeping account
Review: This wonderful sweeping, seminal account of the Jewish experience is a must have for anyone interested in the Jewish people. This book includes everything. It looks at the origins of the tribes of the Jews and their founding in fire of the original kingdom of Israel. It explains why the zealots took to the hills to fight most of the great powers of the day from Assyria to Rome. The author gives a wonderful tour of the Diaspora, life under the Christians and intolerance under the Muslims. Special chapters deal with Yiddish and the life of `Jews in Exotic Places' like Ethiopia, China and India. Separate chapters also look at the Holocaust as well as Jewish resistance in World War Two and Jewish life in the United States. Of course the birth of the state of Israel makes up the last portion of the book. The only downside is a total lack of maps and the loss of essential chapters detailing Judaism in places like South America and Russia. Nevertheless this is a wonderful book which includes much poetry and literary sources as well as personal insights and experiences.