The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BC-1492 AD

By Simon Schama

Categories: History

The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BC-1492 AD (2013) is the first volume of Simon Schama's history of the Jewish people. Schama follows Jewish life from biblical antiquity through the medieval world to the expulsion from Spain in 1492. He emphasizes stories, texts and cultural encounters rather than a single narrative of suffering, drawing on archaeology, literature and art.

Recommended by 1 person

• Fareed Zakaria: “This week's book of the week is Simon Schama's "The Story of the Jews." Everything Schama writes is compulsively readable. And this is no exception. While this is the story of a people that spans centuries and civilizations, Schama focuses in on the lives of ordinary people as well. I rarely recommend a book that I haven't finished, but I am a third of the way through this one, and I can confidently say it is already worth recommending.”