The Jewish Century by Yuri Slezkine

The provocative argument that underlies this idiosyncratic, fascinating and at times marvelously infuriating study of the evolution of Jewish cultural and political sensibility is that the 20th century is the Jewish Age because "modernization is about everyone becoming urban, mobile, literate, articulate, intellectually intricate…. Modernization, in other words, is about everyone becoming Jewish." A professor of history at UC-Berkeley, Slezkine plays a delicate game here. Knowing that his grand statements are more metaphorical than supportable with historical fact, he maps out a new history of Jewish culture over the past 100 years in four radically diverse but cohesive chapters. In a history of Jewish group identity and function, Slezkine depicts Jews as a nomadic tribe that functions as a promoter of urban cultural and economic change. The book's last chapter ("Hodel's Choice") uses the image of the daughters of Sholem Aleichem's famous milkman Tevye to discuss the three great recent Jewish immigrations—to America in the 1890s, from the Pale of Settlement to the Russian cities after the revolution and to Palestine after the birth of Zionism. Through these migrations, Slezkine argues, the modernism of Jewish culture spread throughout the world. Nearly every page of Slezkine's exegesis presents fascinating arguments or facts—e.g., that "secular American Jewish intellectuals felt compelled" to become more Jewish when they were allowed into traditional American institutions. While not strictly a traditional history, Slezkine's work is one of the most innovative and intellectually stimulating books in Jewish studies in years.
Review
" a daring, original, sweeping work of history in this age of narrow spe cialization." – Walter Laqueur, The Los Angeles Times

"For Slezkine, Jews, urban, mobile, literate, flexible, have been role models of adaptability in a changing modern landscape". – Joel Yanofsky, National Post

"He is a gifted historian from Berkeley who has written a big, provocative and brilliant book". – David N. Myers, The Jewish Journal

"Slezkine writes with irony and wit. His book is full of bold and sweeping statements and flashes of brilliance." – Orlando Figes, The New York Review of Books

"This is a book to be reread and reconsidered as the 21st century unfolds". – Harriet P. Gross, The Dallas Morning News

"To be modern is to be Jewish, but to be a Jewish modern is best of all". – First Things

One of the most innovative and intellectually stimulating books in Jewish studies in years. – Publishers Weekly