Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England reprint Edition
Author(s): Anthony Julius (Author)
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Publication Date: 18 Jun. 2012
- Edition: reprint
- Language: English
- Print length: 912 pages
- ISBN-10: 0199600724
- ISBN-13: 9780199600724
Book Description
In a book that Harold Bloom, in The New York Times Book Review, called a "strong, somber book on an appalling subject," Anthony Julius offers a wide-ranging and insightful history of anti-Semitism in England, the first such study of its kind. Julius focuses on four distinct versions of English anti-Semitism. He first describes the anti-Semitism of medieval England, a radical prejudice of defamation, expropriation, and murder, which culminated in 1290, the year Edward I expelled the Jews from England. The second strand is literary anti-Semitism, from the anonymous medieval ballad "Sir Hugh, or the Jew's Daughter," through Chaucer's "The Prioress's Tale" and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, to T. S. Eliot and beyond. The third is modern anti-Semitism, the commonplace anti-Semitism of insult and exclusion, running from the mid-17th century through to the late 20th century. The final chapters then deal with contemporary anti-Semitism, emerging in the late 1960s and the 1970s, which
treats Zionism and the State of Israel as illegitimate Jewish enterprises.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Review from previous edition:This is an essential history and so it's fortunate it has been written by a man with the extraordinary fluency, staggering erudition, scholarly integrity, intellectual acumen, and moral discernment of Anthony Julius. ― Philip Roth
Julius's book is... the gold standard work on the subject of English antisemitism. ―
David Aaronovitch , The Jewish Chronicle, 17/06/2010
Anthony Julius has produced a brilliant and readable account of a shameful stain on the national reputation. The best dissection I've seen of Britain's oldest and least acknowledged racial prejudice. ―
Nick Cohen
Part history of an irrational hatred, part forensic analysis of a sophistical lie, part literary criticism - for, as Anthony Julius shows, anti-Semitism is a species of fantastical literature, all figure of speech, misquotation and fancy - this exhilarating work nails a defamation which to humanity's discredit, persists to this hour. Indispensible. ―
Howard Jacobson
A meticulous survey of an aspect of English life that can scarcely fail to discomfit modern readers. ―
Max Hastings, Sunday Times
Writing against a backdrop of rising violence and abuse directed at English Jews and the State of Israel, Anthony Julius insightfully and passionately traces antisemitism's abject history in England from the medieval period until today. This eminently readable book is thoroughly researched and nuanced, and its take on contemporary antisemitism is a true tour de force. ―
Jehuda Reinharz, Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History and President, Brandeis University
A strong, sombre book on an appalling subject. ―
Harold Bloom, New York Review of Books
Julius is a truth-teller...I am grateful for his calm balance...[and his] extraordinary moral strength. ―
Harold Bloom, New York Review of Books
Luminous and comprehensive history. ―
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
A scholarly and judicious history of Britannia's version of that most lethal form of nonsense called antisemitism.
No thoughtful person who wants to have an opinion about anything Jewish...can avoid reading this book. ―
David Cesa rni, BBC History Magazine
Review
The first ever comprehensive history of anti-Semitism in England, from medieval murder and expulsion through to contemporary forms of anti-Zionism in the 21st century
About the Author
Anthony Julius is the author of several books, including T. S. Eliot: anti-Semitism and Literary Form and is engaged in various political, legal, anti-anti-Semitic activities. Deputy Chairman of the commercial law firm Mishcon de Reya, specializing in litigation law, he is also chairman of the London Consortium, a Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, and was a founder and first Chairman of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.
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