Kings Of The Jews

We all know about King David and King Solomon, but what about the kings Omri and Uzziah? Of the more than fifty monarchs who sat on the throne of the Jews for over 1000 years, most of us can recall only a few. What we do remember about them has been colored by legend and embellishment. In Kings of the Jews, Norman Gelb tells us the real stories of them all. And in doing so, he reveals how a remarkably resilient people survived divisions, discord, and conquest to forge a vibrant identity that has lasted to the present day. Kings of the Jews explores some of the most dramatic periods in Jewish history: those of the united Israelite kingdom under David and Solomon, the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the Babylonian exile, and the destruction of the Second Temple and the Roman conquest of Jerusalem. With illustrations, maps, chronologies, and index.

Israel frequently features in the news today, often for the wrong reasons. Violence in the Holy Land is an all-too-common occurrence. To understand why this part of the Middle East is such a flashpoint, knowing its long history is essential, and Norman Gelb's Kings of the Jews illuminates the evolution of the Jewish nation, forerunner of the modern State of Israel. This is the story of the lives and times of the men and women who ruled it in a Middle East arguably even more turbulent than it is today, from Saul, its first king, to Herod Agrippa II, its last. It is also the story of key formative experiences of the Jews, including the dispersion of the Lost Tribes of Israel, the traumatic Babylonian Exile, the Maccabee uprising and the war with Rome. Including informative illustrations and maps, it is an essential guide to the early history of the Jewish people.

Rawlinson chronicles the history surrounding each king, giving account of the politics, warfare, religion, and culture of the reign. With close reference to the Bible throughout, Rawlinson's study has become an essential part of Old Testament studies and is important tool to aid with the examination of The Books of Kings and Chronicles in particular. In addition to this, Rawlinson provides a close look at the lives of the various kings of Israel and Judah: the events of their reigns; the battles fought; and the effect on the kingdoms of the decisions made by the monarchs.

"In vivid detail... examines the little-known history of two extraordinary dynasties."--The Boston Globe "Not just a brilliant, well-researched, and highly readable book about China's past, it also reveals the contingencies and ironic twists of fate in China's modern history."--LA Review of Books An epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern era, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist The Sassoons and the Kadoories stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than one hundred seventy-five years, profiting from the Opium Wars; surviving Japanese occupation; courting Chiang Kai-shek; and nearly losing everything as the Communists swept into power. Jonathan Kaufman tells the remarkable history of how these families ignited an economic boom and opened China to the world, but remained blind to the country's deep inequality and to the political turmoil on their doorsteps. In a story stretching from Baghdad to Hong Kong to Shanghai to London, Kaufman enters the lives and minds of these ambitious men and women to forge a tale of opium smuggling, family rivalry, political intrigue, and survival.

In July 1290, Edward I issued writs to the Sheriffs of the English counties ordering them to enforce a decree to expel all Jews from England before All Saints' Day of that year. England became the first country to expel a Jewish minority from its borders. They were allowed to take their portable property but their houses were confiscated by the king. In a highly readable account, Robin Mundill considers the Jews of medieval England as victims of violence (notably the massacre of Shabbat haGadol when York's Jewish community perished at Clifford's Tower) and as a people apart, isolated amidst a hostile environment. The origins of the business world are considered including the fact that the medieval English Jew perfected modern business methods many centuries before its recognised time. What emerges is a picture of a lost society which had much to contribute and yet was turned away in 1290.

Israel frequently features in the news today, often for the wrong reasons. Violence in the Holy Land is an all-too-common occurrence. To understand why this part of the Middle East is such a flashpoint, knowing its long history is essential, and Norman Gelb's 'Kings of the Jews' illuminates the evolution of the Jewish nation, forerunner of the modern State of Israel. This is the story of the lives and times of the men and women who ruled it in a Middle East arguably even more turbulent than it is today, from Saul, its first king, to Herod Agrippa II, its last. It is also the story of key formative experiences of the Jews, including the disperson of the 'Lost Tribes of Israel', the traumatic Babylonian Exile, the Maccabee uprising and the war with Rome. Including informative illustrations and maps, it is an essential guide to the early history of the Jewish people. "Makes Jewish history more approachable to the modern reader - rich, epic and certain to maintain interest" - Kirkus Review.

Paula Fredriksen, renowned historian and author of From Christ to Jesus, begins this inquiry into the historic Jesus with a fact that may be the only undisputed thing we know about him: his crucifixion. Rome reserved this means of execution particularly for political insurrectionists; and the Roman charge posted at the head of the cross indicted Jesus for claiming to be King of the Jews. To reconstruct the Jesus who provoked this punishment, Fredriksen takes us into the religious worlds, Jewish and pagan, of Mediterranean antiquity, through the labyrinth of Galilean and Judean politics, and on into the ancient narratives of Paul's letters, the gospels, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus' histories. The result is a profound contribution both to our understanding of the social and religious contexts within which Jesus of Nazareth moved, and to our appreciation of the mission and message that ended in the proclamation of Jesus as Messiah.