"…[an] unusual, thought provoking perspective on Jewish History. It is the story of the triumph of the spirit…" From the foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert
The Phases of Jewish History is a fact-filled volume which explores the history of the Jewish people in a unique and comprehensive way, taking the reader from Biblical times to the present. The book breaks all of Jewish history into "phases", each being a 500 year segment of history, and depicts the political, economic and social forces that kept the Jewish people alive and vibrant. It focuses on the leading figures who significantly affected the course of Jewish history.
The authors take readers from the period of the Patriarchs through Moses, David, and the birth of the Jewish people, then on to the period of the prophets and kings, Ezra and the Great Assembly, the Talmudic period, the Geonim, Rishonim, the Spanish Inquisition, Achronim, the two World Wars, and the State of Israel.
A detailed index is included.
Rabbi Philip Ginsbury became a Rabbi in 1963. Since 1982 he has been rabbi of the South London Synagogue, UK, where he has just celebrated 45 years in the rabbinate. He first studied at and later became lecturer in Bible studies at the London School of Jewish Studies. He has written numerous scholarly and popular articles on Jewish themes and lectures frequently. He is a member of the Scholar's Group currently engaged in revising the popular Anglo-Jewish Singer's Prayer Book. He lives in London, UK.
Raphael Cutler attended Jews' College, studying under historian Cecil Roth. He received a B.A. in Semitic Languages. He served as Rabbi in Higher Broughton Synagogue, near Manchester, UK and continued his studies at Manchester Polytechnic where he received a diploma in Architecture. Cutler worked in the Ministry of Interior planning department in Jerusalem. He lives in Israel.