The Jews of France : a history from antiquity to the present / Esther Benbassa ; translated by M.B. DeBevoise.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Benbassa, Esther.

Standardized Title:

Histoire des juifs de France. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--France--History.

Jews.

France--Ethnic relations.

France.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 p.)

Edition:

Core Textbook

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the first English-language edition of a general, synthetic history of French Jewry from antiquity to the present, Esther Benbassa tells the intriguing tale of the social, economic, and cultural vicissitudes of a people in diaspora. With verve and insight, she reveals the diversity of Jewish life throughout France's regions, while showing how Jewish identity has constantly redefined itself in a country known for both the Rights of Man and the Dreyfus affair. Beginning with late antiquity, she charts the migrations of Jews into France and traces their fortunes through the making of the French kingdom, the Revolution, the rise of modern anti-Semitism, and the current renewal of interest in Judaism. As early as the fourth century, Jews inhabited Roman Gaul, and by the reign of Charlemagne, some figured prominently at court. The perception of Jewish influence on France's rulers contributed to a clash between church and monarchy that would culminate in the mass expulsion of Jews in the fourteenth century. The book examines the re-entry of small numbers of Jews as New Christians in the Southwest and the emergence of a new French Jewish population with the country's acquisition of Alsace and Lorraine. The saga of modernity comes next, beginning with the French Revolution and the granting of citizenship to French Jews. Detailed yet quick-paced discussions of key episodes follow: progress made toward social and political integration, the shifting social and demographic profiles of Jews in the 1800's, Jewish participation in the economy and the arts, the mass migrations from Eastern Europe at the turn of the twentieth century, the Dreyfus affair, persecution under Vichy, the Holocaust, and the postwar arrival of North African Jews. Reinterpreting such themes as assimilation, acculturation, and pluralism, Benbassa finds that French Jews have integrated successfully without always risking loss of identity. Published to great acclaim in France, this book brings important current issues to bear on the study of Judaism in general, while making for dramatic reading.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Translator's Note

Note to the French Edition

Preface

Foreword

Chapter 1. The Origins of the Jewish Presence in Gaul

Chapter 2. Nobles' Jews, Kings' Jews

Chapter 3. Jewish Life in the Middle Ages

Chapter 4. The Jews of the South

Chapter 5. The Jews of the East and of Paris

Chapter 6. On the Way to Emancipation

Chapter 7. New Perspectives

Chapter 8. Entry into French Society

Chapter 9. Advancement and Identity

Chapter 10. Breaches in Franco-Judaism

Chapter 11. Between the Wars

Chapter 12. The Dark Years

Chapter 13. Recovery

Chronology

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-270) and index.

ISBN:

9786612753756

9781400800575

1400800579

9781282753754

1282753754

9781400823147

1400823145

9781400811007

1400811007

OCLC:

700688446