Esau's Tears
Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews

Esau's Tears analyzes the rise of modern racial-political anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States.

Albert S. Lindemann (Author)

9780521795388, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 December 2000

600 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 3.8 cm, 0.835 kg

'… an original and perceptive observation on virtually every page, a consistent challenge to the orthodox interpretation of modern antisemitism which may be seen as a landmark in its study … Esau's Tears merits an important place in any historical assessment of modern antisemitism, while the author deserves a medal for bravery in writing the book'. History

Esau's Tears explores the remarkable and revealing variety of modern anti-Semitism, from its emergence in the 1870s in a racial-political form to the eve of the Nazi takeover, in the major countries of Europe and in the United States. Previous histories have generally been more concerned with description than analysis, and most of the interpretations in those histories have been lacking in balance. The evidence presented in this volume suggests that anti-Semitism in these years was more ambiguous than usually presented, less pervasive and central to the lives of both Jews and non-Jews, and by no means clearly pointed to a rising hatred of Jews everywhere, even less to the likelihood of mass murder. Similarly, Jew-hatred was not as mysterious or incomprehensible as often presented; its strength in some countries and weakness in others may be related to the fluctuating, and sometimes quite different, perceptions in those countries of the meaning of the rise of the Jews in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Preface
Part I. The Long-Range Background: 1. Anti-Semitism before the modern period: overview and definition
2. Modern times (1700 to the 1870s)
Part II. The Appearance of Modern Anti-Semitism (1870–90): 3. Germans and Jews (1870–1980)
4. Anti-Semitic ideology and movement in Germany (1879 to the 1890s)
5. Socialists, Jews, and anti-Semites
6. Austria-Hungary: radical radicalism and Schlamperei
7. France: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
8. A sweet exile?
Part III. The Belle Epoque (1890–1914): 9. The failures: Russia and Romania
10. The ambiguities of 'failure' in the Belle Epoque: Germany and Austria
11. The ambiguous successes: Great Britain and the United States
Part IV. A Decade of War and Revolution (1914–24): 12. World War I
13. Jews and revolution (1917–34)
Part V. The Fascist Era: Europe between the Wars: 14. Fascism and Anti-Semitism
Epilogue
Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Jewish studies [JFSR1], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK], European history [HBJD]