Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The history of the Jewish people is one of the greatest historical tapestries of modern times. Starting in 1650, when there were no more than one and a quarter million Jews in the world, Gartner looks at the Jewish traditions and communities, and how they interacted both externally and internally. The story moves through the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and into Emancipation, through the dark shadows of anti-Semitism, and up to the twentieth century with Zionism, the impact of World War II and the Holocaust, and the foundation of Israel." "This authoritative and lively introduction contains the story of the changing fortunes of the Jewish communities as they move through the Old World, Europe, the Middle East, and on to the New World of the Americas."--Jacket.

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