Produktdetaljer
Biographical note
Author of The Jews in Poland and Russia, 3 vols. (Littman Library, 2010–12), also published in an abridged version: The Jews in Poland and Russia: A Short History (2014). In 2012, The Jews in Poland and Russia was awarded the Pro Historia Polonorum prize of the Polish Senate for the best book on the history of Poland in a non-Polish language written in the previous five years. Holds honorary doctorates from the University of Warsaw (2010) and the Jagiellonian University (2014). In 2011 he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Polonia Restituta and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Independent Lithuania.'Combines a masterful grasp of Jewish history with that of eastern
Europe. While underlining the unique features and achievements of the Jewish
communal experience he authoritatively integrates them into the history of the
countries in which Jews lived . . . Incorporating current, ground-breaking
scholarship from North America, Israel, and Europe these beautifully narrated
volumes should not only be seen as a staple of university courses, but also as
a must-read for anyone attempting to understand any aspect of modern Jewish
history and religious tradition, wherever it may be playing out . . . With this
extremely important book, Antony Polonsky not only writes history but,
following the example of his illustrious predecessors, makes it.'<br /><b>- K</b><i><b></b></i><b>atarzyna Person, </b><i><b>European Judaism</b></i><br />
'The
first two volumes of Antony Polonsky's magisterial The Jews in Poland and
Russia trilogy provide a much-needed addition to the landscape of Jewish
historical studies . . . [a] significant achievement in presenting the most
modern findings in a clear, readable, comprehensive survey . . . his narrative
is grand and his analysis tight . . . an excellent synthesis of this
community's history, incorporating much of the groundbreaking scholarship of
the last few decades. Repeatedly, the volumes remind us of the many lost opportunities
for real reform in the region. They help correct the nostalgic and romanticized
portraits of what is sometimes considered a lost civilization, while
simultaneously demonstrating the vibrancy and diversity of Jewish life in the
region . . . essential reading for those seeking a thorough and balanced
understanding of Jewish life in pre-twentieth century Eastern Europe.' <br /><b>- Jeffrey
Veidlinger, </b><i><b>H-Judaic</b></i><br />
'For
several decades now, Antony Polonsky has been at the forefront of Polish–Jewish
studies . . . It is thus fitting that Polosnky, who has nurtured young
scholars, especially in Poland itself and North America, should bring together
old and new work in this remarkable multi-volume synthesis of Jewish history
and culture . . . These volumes will provide the first port of call for any
student of east European Jewry.' <br /><b>- Tony Kushner, </b><i><b>Jewish Chronicle</b></i><br />
'We
can only commend Antony Polonsky for his massive effort to explain seven
centuries of Jewish history in a mere 2,000 pages . . . Polonsky's strength
lies in his ability to illuminate intellectual and cultural developments . . .
Because of the excellent bibliographies, extensive annotation, and wonderful
maps included in each volume, any reader wishing to read in greater detail
about Polish and Russian Jewry will have plenty of resources to enable the
search.' <br /><b>- Alexandra
S. Korros, </b><i><b>Jewish Quarterly</b></i><br />
'An
excellent synthesis of recent research on east European Jewish culture and
history. As such it fills a definite need for an accessible introduction to the
current scholarship and thinking about the Jews of Poland and Russia . . .
should be on the reading list of anyone interested in the history and folk
cultures of eastern Europe, whether they work specifically with Jewish history
and folk culture, or with other regional cultures.'<br /><b>- David Elton Gay, </b><i><b>Journal of Folklore Research</b></i>
'Any reader who invests the time and money to read the book . . . will
find it very rewarding—and not just because of the wealth of information it
contains. What Polonsky's book brings home, in a way that a narrower study
could not, is the sheer complexity and vitality of Jewish life in that time and
place . . . this broader picture is needed to make sense of the social changes
that were accelerating by the late nineteenth century—above all, in the
situation of women, the subject of one of Polonsky's best chapters . . .
Polonsky's panoramic book, which packs so much vivid detail and statistical
information into its 500 pages, helps to show just how rich, and how difficult,
that life really was.'<br /><b>- Adam Kirsch, </b><i><b>The
New Republic </b></i><b>and </b><i><b>Tablet Magazine</b></i>
'Polonsky's
magisterial <i>The Jews in Poland and Russia</i> is one of those rare works
that can hope to bridge the gap between specialist and “intelligent general
reader”, providing a strong narrative and appealing prose for the latter as
well as an up-to-date distilled knowledge of both primary and secondary sources
for the former. No one interested in Jewish, Polish, or Russian history can
afford to be without these volumes . . . will long remain the standard work on
this crucial Jewish community . . . While a survey of this sort requires a
goodly bit of politics . . . Polonsky has gone out of his way to include
culture, religious life, gender, Jewish mass culture, and social history . . .
The books' structure is entirely appropriate for its primary purpose: to
provide a basic overview of this Jewish community's history . . . strikingly
high level of scholarship . . . [The publisher] is particularly to be commended
on its allowing Polonsky to cite at length from the Jewish literary sources he
is considering and not begrudging space for a dozen pages of useful statistics
(not a small thing in a publishing world where bibliographies are often
considered superfluous!) . . . This history, written by a major scholar of both
Polish and Jewish history and a person profoundly attached to both communities,
is exemplary in its efforts to integrate Jews into Polish history, neither
white-washing sources of friction nor painting an overly rosy picture. The most
important thing one can say about Antony Polonsky's <i>The Jews in Poland and
Russia</i> is: get it and read it!'<br /><i></i><b>- Theodore
R. Weeks, </b><i><b>The Polish Review</b></i><br />
'This
superb and very up-to-date book is very well written, carefully documented,
balanced, and will be a standard reference in the field. It has a glossary and
a wide-ranging bibliography, very useful maps, and statistical tables, all of
which make it a good starting point for any reading on east European
Jewry.'<br /><b>- Shaul
Stampfer, </b><i><b>Religious Studies Review</b></i>
'Exemplary
and formidable . . . Polonsky, as much as anyone else, has created the field of
modern Jewish history as a subject to be considered and understood rather than
simply a tragic past to be mourned. He is too good a historian to confuse the
history of Jewish life with the German policies that brought Jewish death . . .
The barely visible commitment in these three wonderful volumes is to rescue a
world from polemic, for the sake of history.' <br /><b>- Timot</b><i><b></b></i><b>hy
Snyder, </b><i><b>Wall Street Journal</b></i><br />
<p>‘The first serious,
and most successful, effort thus far to summarize the history of the Jews of
“Eastern Europe” . . . the first book to synthesize the vast research that has
emerged since the seventies . . . comprehensive and multidisciplinary . . .
there is no book today that can compare to its scope and to the vast and new
materials that he brings forth and analyzes with a broad imagination, an
intensive approach, and a moderate style.’<br />- <b>Moshe Rosman, </b><i><b>Zion</b></i></p>
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.List of Tables
Note on Transliteration
Maps
Introduction
1 The Position of the Jews in the Tsarist Empire, 1881-1905
2 Revolution and Reaction, 1904-1914
3 The Kingdom of Poland, 1881-1914
4 Galicia in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century
5 Prussian Poland, 1848-1914
6 Jewish Spaces: Shtetls and Towns in the Nineteenth Century
Statistical Appendix
7 Modern Jewish Literature in the Tsarist Empire and Galicia
8 Jewish Religious Life from the Mid-Eightteenth Century to 1914
9 Women in Jewish Eastern Europe
10 The Rise of Jewish Mass Culture: Literature, Press, Theatre
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index