I have concern over some of the statements made like when the author states that archeologist classify people into four races based on skin color (chapter one). It's my understanding that the idea of distinct races has been shown to be false and while the book was first published in the 1980s I would think that a revised and corrected copy could be published. ( )

A very concise history of the Jewish people in less than 200 pages and it is a very fast and easy read (about an hour for me). I cannot believe that this is something that took six hours to finish discussing in class and we barely spoke about most of the book. It's not incredibly detailed (but neither was the class we used it for). I would rather have several books that go into more depth, however if you just need a summary of the Jewish people's history, this will do. ( )

Jewish history presented as a series of adventures

This was required reading, but looking back on it im not sure why... its a pretty brief and somewhat smug look at the history of the Jews from Abraham to the state of Israel.

This takes the 30,000 mile high view of Jewish history and thought, and looks at some of the transformations and consistencies throughout.

This book definitely has opinions and smug/snarky remarks. But it comes across as biased and perhaps due to its brevity isn't backed up with where more depth can be gained in a particular area of interest.

That being said, it's usefulness to me is to provide me with that broad overview of Jewish history - including the permutations of the religious and philosophical thought as well as the interactions with the nations and peoples that Jewish people have found themselves in contact and persecution over the centuries. The overview is useful for someone like me now, who has forgotten more than I care to admit and would like to go back and revisit interesting areas of history in the future, and this provides a crude and rudimentary place to start. ( )