David Vital
A people apart, the Jews in Europe 1789-1939
Oxford U.P.

The twentieth century has seen both the greatest triumph of Jewish history (the birth of the nation of Israel) and its greatest tragedy (the state sponsored genocide of the Holocaust). A People Apart is the first study to examine the role played by the Jews themselves, across the whole of Europe, during the century and a half leading up to these events.
In this monumental work of history, David Vital explores the Jews' troubled relationship with Europe, documenting the struggles of this "nation without a territory" to establish a place for itself within an increasingly polarized and nationalist continent.
The author describes pogroms, poverty, and migration, the image of the Jew as revolutionary, the rise of Zionism and the "Palestinian idea," and much more.
This powerful and stimulating new analysis represents a watershed in our understanding of the history of the Jews in Europe.