It provides a great bridge between ancient religious history and modern political history.
Unlike a dry textbook, it reads like a biography of a people. It is fast-paced but dense with names and dates. 4. Why Read It? A History of the Jews
Life under Christian and Muslim rule in the Middle Ages. It provides a great bridge between ancient religious
Johnson argues that the Jews survived because they were "the people of the book." When they lost their land, they carried their nationhood within their laws and literature. A History of the Jews
Writing as a non-Jewish historian (a Catholic), Johnson is openly admiring of Jewish contributions to humanity. He views Jewish history as a "providential" story of survival.