Simon Schama’s ‘The Story of the Jews’: a Dazzling History
THE SEATTLE TIMES
By David Laskin
PUBLISHING---Simon Schama’s “The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words 1000 BC-1492 AD” connects history, art, culture and religion in its account of the Jewish people’s history, beginning with their origins and ending with their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Telling the story of the Jews, even in two hefty volumes (the second due out this fall) and a companion five-hour PBS television series, is a daunting task, but Simon Schama is more than up to it. Massively erudite in history, art, culture, and, on the evidence of this new book, scripture and archaeology, Schama is one of those charming polymaths that only the British Isles seem to breed. Reading Schama is like sitting across from the world’s most dazzling dinner party guest: there’s nothing the man can’t brilliantly riff on, though you may be furtively glancing at your watch before the evening is over. The five-hour companion television series began airing on KCTS March 25 and continues Tuesday, April 1. Consult pbs.org for times. [link]
By David Laskin
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| The New York Times book review of "The Story of the Jews" |
