Essential Papers on Zionism »

Jehuda Reinharz is Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History and President of Brandeis University. He is the coeditor and author of numerous volumes, including Chaim Weizmann: The Making of a Statesman.

Anita Shapria is Professor of Jewish History and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University. She is the coeditor and author of several volumes, including Land and Power: The Zionist Resort to Force, 1881-1948.

Zionism, more than any other social and political movement in the modern era, has completely and fundamentally altered the self-image of the Jewish people and its relations with the non- Jewish world. As the dominant expression of Jewish nationalism, Zionism revolutionized the very concept of Jewish peoplehood, taking upon itself the transformation of the Jewish people from a minority into a majority, and from a diaspora community into a territorial one.

Bringing together for the first time the work of the most distinguished historians of Zionism and the Yishuv (pre-state Israeli society), many never before translated into English, this volume offers a comprehensive treatment of the history of Zionism. The contributions are diverse, examining such topics as the ideological development of the Jewish nationalist movement, Zionist trends in the Land of Israel, and relations between Jews, Arabs, and the British in Palestine. Contributors include: Jacob Katz, Shmuel Almog, Yosef Salmon, David Vital, Steven J. Zipperstein, Michael Heymann, Jonathan Frankel, George L. Berlin, Israel Oppenheim, Gershon Shaked, Joseph Heller, Hagit Lavsky, and Bernard Wasserstein.

Jewish Book World

The volume presents the latest scholarship in the field of Zionism and the yishuv. All articles, with one exception, were published after 1980 and include contributions by leading scholars, including the editors. The 31 pieces are divided into five areas: Origins; Diaspora and Zionism; Zionist Trends in Eretz Israel -- Ideology and Reality; The Fateful Triangle: Jews, Arabs, and the British; and Cultural Questions. This selection is intended for the researcher, the student and the reader interested in learning how Zionism created a new and different type of Jewish civilization unknown to earlier generations.