Dimensions
156 x 234 x 43mm
Each of the
three volumes of this magisterial work provides a comprehensive picture of the
realities of Jewish life in the Polish lands in the period it covers, while also
considering the contemporary political, economic, and social context.
Volume I: 1350 to 1881 provides a wide-ranging
overview down to the mid-eighteenth century, including social, economic, and
religious history. The period from 1764 to 1881 is covered in more detail, with
attention focused on developments in each country in turn, especially with
regard to the politics of emancipation, acculturation, assimilation, and forced
integration.
Volume II: 1881 to 1914 explores the factors that had a negative impact on Jewish life as
well as the political and cultural movements that developed in consequence:
Zionism, socialism, autonomism, the emergence of modern Hebrew and Yiddish
literature, Jewish urbanization, and the rise of popular Jewish culture. Galicia,
Prussian Poland, the Kingdom of Poland, and the tsarist empire are all treated
individually, as are the main cities.
Volume III: 1914 to 2008 covers the interwar period, the Second World
War, and the Holocaust, including Polish-Jewish relations and the Soviet record
on the Holocaust. A survey of developments since 1945 concludes
with an epilogue on the situation of the Jews since the collapse of communism.
