The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day Kindle Edition

Walter Laqueur was a great historian, but in this small volume he could not decide whether he was writing a history of antisemitism or a personal reflection on it. It has some stellar analysis in places, but also meanders, repeats itself, and has more of the author's opinion than one would want. I followed a recommendation to use it for a course on antisemitism, and regret my choice.

This is not a well written book. It lacks footnotes and the in-text references to bibliographic material could be spruced up. The bibliography itself reads like a file dump from the author's computer. There is a certain casualness or perhaps more accurately a journalistic informality about the prose that didn't read well for me. And all of that is a pity becasue the central theme of Laquers' work is the constancy of anti-Semitism propagated under different deceitful guises in different times. Anyone who learns something new from this book is not familiar with Jewish history, the history of the diaspora. The book is, from this perspective, a useful introduction to the emergence and solidification of anti-Semitic trends. However, given Laquers' professional provenace I expected much greater depth, much more profound analysis and I did not encounter it. Instead, one ends up with a version of a Dummies Guide. I would have liked more passion to flow, more provocative argument to be evidenced, the Sword of Moses to be waved about. One can be academic and passionate (e.g. Saul Friedlander) and for me, and I stess for me, this work did not hit the spot.

Because of the detailed and researched composition of this book, I gave it a 5 star rating. As a Jew, the question frequently comes to mind, why do they hate us? After reading this book, I have more answers. The lesson is that anti-Semitism and Racism needs to be fully understood and education must be promoted.

Walter Laquer is an excellent writer who provides an objective view of a very difficult subject. He admits that there is no definitive answer to the question of "Why Anti-Semitism," but he provides an excellent overview of different manifestations of it. Reecommended for anyone interested in Jewish history or the phenomenon itself.

As I see it, Laqueur's book has advantages over the many other works on the same subject:1) The author has a sure footing in two millennia of European history. Here and there I found myself in disagreement on matters of fact and interpretation. I looked these things up and found that in all of these cases Laqueur was right and I was wrong. This is not to say that there won't be specialists who can find errors here and there. There is no book that is immune to error. But I do not think that such errors will be numerous or grave.2) The author is even-handed and sober. He flogs no ideology or partisan program. He is patient with the views of others, even when these are offensive.3) He has taken the trouble of studying, in depth, what anti-Semites have to say. There are no second-hand condemnations based on handed-down opinions.4) He knows the byways of history: shadowy characters like Abram Leon, the National Bolshevists, Michael Neumann, Horst Mahler, to name just a few, wander through these pages. Generally it is only the sectologists -- the historians of Trotskyism, the chroniclers of neo-Nazism, etc. -- who bother to tell us much about such figures. But where sectologists are interested only in these shadows, Laqueur shows us the shadows by way of illuminating the broader picture. He lets us travel both byways and highways.When the messiah finally arrives, books will be perfect. This has not yet happened, and I must report that, indeed, there are things that I wish were better in this book.Laqueur has no footnotes and only rarely makes direct reference to other scholars. Most of the time this is not a big problem since the facts that he adduces are generally well known, and, with Wikipedia and other internet resources widely available, a reader can often provide his own references, as indeed I have done. Sometimes, however, a topic cries out for emendation by footnote. On page 49, for example, the author mentions the "Deutsche Christen," a Nazi formation of Protestants who repudiated the Old Testament as Jewish. ("Deutsche Christen" is not found in the book's index.) Well, the reader should have been referred here to more information on this group. As it happens, the group Deutsche Christen was repudiated by the Nazi leadership and lost all influence after 1933, and the reader of the present book will be misled if all he reads is what he reads here.I am also not happy with the long list of (unannotated) recommended readings. It is too long to be of much help. I would have liked to see a much shorter, annotated list of things that the interested reader should look into.Laqueur tells us that there are about 40,000 books about modern anti-Semitism. My own overall opinion of his work is best expressed by the fact that I have ordered a copy for each of my nine grandchildren. I have included my youngest, now three, because of my confidence that by the time he reaches reading age for this sort of thing -- roughly ten years from now -- this book will still most likely stand as the best scholarly treatment of anti-Semitism.

Well written and well researched by a real expert in the field.

As a Jew, and 76 years old, I learned a lot of new facts about this age old prejudice. Well written and well organized. Stan Berde PS I purchased this via Amazon and read same on my Kindle Keyboard, which I love more than life itself

Anti-Semitism has changed its focus, from the Jew to the Jewish state. Alone of all the nations of the world for being Jewish, it is picked on by BDS supporters and by other manufacturers of lies. Israel's multi-cultural, cosmopolitan, high tech society where women, gays, lesbians, minorities can flourish is ignored. Name one Moslem country where that is the case.

There is a great deal of erudition packed into this small book. The portions of the book dealing with the historical role of Christianity in aiding and abetting anti-semitism are fascinating.