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The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE - 1492

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The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE - 1492

By: Simon Schama
Narrated by: Andrew Sachs, Saul Reichlin
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Summary

It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance against destruction, of creativity in oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life against the steepest of odds. It spans the millennia and the continents - from India to Andalusia and from the bazaars of Cairo to the streets of Oxford. It takes you to unimagined places: to a Jewish kingdom in the mountains of southern Arabia; a Syrian synagogue glowing with radiant wall paintings; the palm groves of the Jewish dead in the Roman catacombs. And its voices ring loud and clear, from the severities and ecstasies of the Bible writers to the love poems of wine bibbers in a garden in Muslim Spain.

And a great story unfolds. Not - as often imagined - of a culture apart, but of a Jewish world immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from the Arabs to the Christians. Which makes the story of the Jews everyone's story, too.

©2013 Simon Scama (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Judaism Middle East Middle Ages Ancient History Royalty Crusade
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I don't finish it. Seemed rambling and hard to follow so I returned the book. Will keep looking for a good audio book about Jewish history!

Seemed rambling and hard to follow

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Not content with with all aspects of this audio but so far seems to have some interesting parts of history.

Ok, but Bias.

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The only downside to this great book was the first reader of the text. His manner of reading was annoying and I almost lost my appetite during his time.

Great history and very informative

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Schama gives us the story of the Jews from their origins in the Israelite captivity to their expulsion from Spain and Portugal. The story is at once moving, fascinating and humbling.

Moving History

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A very, very long book that really needs to be read in several sections. A good presentation of part of the history of the Jews with only three draw backs. The first is the length, which can be sorted out by reading in several chunks. Secondly the slightly deadpan way the book was read and finally it was very hard to keep track of who was who and where they were. I would suggest that it would provide a good read and just to go with the flow and don't try to keep track of the people who are being written about and just focus on the events.

Part of the history of the Jews.

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