Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition » (New Edition)

Erich S. Gruen is Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (California, 1974), The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome (California, 1984), Studies in Greek Culture and Roman Policy (1990), Culture and National Identity in Republican Rome (1992), and Diaspora: Jews amidst the Greeks and Romans (forthcoming).

"This excellent volume focuses on the writings of Jews in Greek and shows clearly that they are not to be seen as apologetic or defensive writings but as evidencing the vitality and creativity of a self-confident Judaism. . . . A book of broad scholarly interest to both scholars and everyone interested in the development of Judaism."—Robert Doran, Amherst College

Jerusalem Post

Gruen identifies with his heroes and their problems. He succeeds in moving us back in time to the world of the Maccabees and their unique literature, an inextricable part of our national heritage.