Synopses & Reviews
Esau's Tears explores the rise of modern racial-political anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. Previous histories have been more concerned with description than analysis and most have lacked balance. The evidence presented in this volume suggests that anti-Semitism in these years was more ambiguous than usually presented, less pervasive and central to the lives of both Jews and non-Jews, and by no means clearly pointed to a rising hatred of Jews everywhere, even less to the likelihood of mass murder. Hatred of Jews was not as mysterious or incomprehensible as often presented, but may be related to the differing perceptions of the rise of the Jews in modern times.
Review
"Albert S. Lindemann has touched raw nerves with Esau's Tears....[This] is the real context of the controversy stirred by Esau's Tears: Lindemann's unwillingness to allow the victimology racket to proceed unchallenged." Paul Gottfried, Chronicles"Lindemann has amassed a large amount of useful information, and his call for a more complex and dispassionate historical understanding of antisemitism is welcome." Choice"Lindemann's richness and subtlety are difficult to overstate....Esau's Tears is a superior sourcebook for students of anti-Semitism and a brilliant analytical work, chock-full of original ideas, concepts and well-balanced interpretations." Susan Zuccotti, The Nation"...a work of immense sweep and ambition....merely to call the book 'provocative' would be to understate the intensity of the criticism it is likely to attract....readers and reviewers should bear in mind the author's record as an able, serious scholar whose sincere intention it is to contribute to our understanding of antisemitism." H-Antisemitism, H-NET"...profoundly biased and ignominious..." Robert S. Wistrich, Commentary"...a work which tries to be as open-minded as possible about a subject which does not lend itself to such treatment, and to a very high degree it succeeds in this task. Any fair-minded reader will be impressed by the way in which Lindemann tackles taboo after taboo in the litany of anti-Semitic historiography and, basing himself scrupulously on scholarly research, reveals a much more complex picture...without ever trying to excuse the anti-Semitism or the anti-Semite." Steven Beller, Times Literary Supplement"This survey of anti-Semitism in the 50 years preceding the rise of the Nazis is sure to generate controversy.... Lindemann displays a wide breadth of history and of the historical literature." Publishers Weekly"A richly informative...overview of anti-Jewish bigotry and violence between the 1870s, when the term 'anti-Semitism' was coined, and the Holocaust....There's much provocative, compelling material here." Kirkus Reviews"Esau's Tears is lucidly written and the drama of the subject easily holds the reader's attention. The book raises troubling issues that have sometimes been downplayed or ignored, and in this it performs a service." The Washington Times"elegantly written" Holocaust &Genocide
Synopsis
Esau's Tears analyzes the rise of modern racial-political anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States.
Synopsis
Esau's Tears explores the rise of modern racial-political anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. The evidence presented in this volume suggests that anti-Semitism was more ambiguous than usually presented and by no means clearly pointed to a rising hatred of Jews everywhere.
Table of Contents
Preface; Part I. The Long-Range Background: 1. Anti-Semitism before the modern period: overview and definition; 2. Modern times (1700 to the 1870s); Part II. The Appearance of Modern Anti-Semitism (1870-1890): 3. Germans and Jews (1870-1980); 4. Anti-Semitic ideology and movement in Germany (1879 to the 1890s); 5. Socialists, Jews, and anti-Semites; 6. Austria-Hungary: radical radicalism and Schlamperei; 7. France: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity; 8. A sweet exile?; Part III. The Belle Epoque (1890-1914): 9. The failures: Russia and Romania; 10. The ambiguities of 'failure' in the Belle Epoque: Germany and Austria; 11. The ambiguous successes: Great Britain and the United States; Part IV. A Decade of War and Revolution (1914-1924): 12. World War I; 13. Jews and revolution (1917-1934); Part V. The Fascist Era: Europe Between the Wars: 14. Fascism and Anti-Semitism; Epilogue; Conclusions.