This book traces the Jewish thread throughout English life between the Tudors and the beginnings of mass immigration in the mid-nineteenth century. The writing of English history has been very largely framed without taking note of the Jewish presence at all - here, for the first time, the Jews are shown as an integral part of English religious and social history. David Katz explores completely new subjects in depth, such as the Jewish advocates of Henry VIII's divorce, and the Jewish conspirators of Elizabethan England, without neglecting themes such as the role of Jewish finance and the emergence of Anglo-Jewish institutions. This extensively researched and accessible history of the Jews in England over almost four centuries will be essential reading for those interested in English and Jewish history.
Industry Reviews
`He has researched archives in three continents and in several languages; his use of secondary material is exhaustive; and his footnotes contain a wealth of signposts for those readers who wish to pursue the details of the story he has to tell. For the foreseeable future, his book will remain the definitive account of its subject-matter.'
Jewish Chronicle
`This is an important, well-written account of the Jewish presence in England until 1850. It offers a model for examining the history of Jews in the context of broader events'
Times
`a meticulous work of scholarship considerably enhanced by it s handsome publication by the Oxford University Press...elegantly written and produced...will provide much gratification to the Jewish professional historian and lay reader alike.'
Jewish Book News and Reviews
`Those seeking a lively discussion of historiographical issuses will find 'The Jews in the History of England' absorbing.'
The Jewish Quarterly
`Subjects such as Jewish advocacy of Henry VIII's divorce and Jewish conspiracy in Elisabethan England are explored in depth'
The Sunday Telegraph
`He demonstrates many of Roth's best qualities, especially a scholarly erudition of demanding thoroughness and an equally thorough knowledge of the British background against which Anglo-Jewish history is set. The work is a pleasure to read and fills in many of the dark places in our knowledge of the subject ... there is virtually no part of this subject about which he has not found something new and interesting to say, and his judgments are generally very
sound.'
W.D. Rubinstein, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, American Historical Review, April 1996
`His treatment of cultural topics is exemplary, and his use of primary sources in several languages is exhaustive and breathtaking.'
Geoffrey Alderman, Middlesex University, EHR Apr. 97
`a story often told with charm and even panache'
Arthur H. Williamson, California State University, Sacramento, Journal of Church and State, Winter 1997
`This book will be of great interest not only to Jewish historians, but also to general historians who seek to incorporate the history of minorities such as the Jews into survey or upper-level courses. By striving to explain both the Jewish experience in England and English perceptions of the Jews, Katz has greatly enriched our knowledge of both.'
Stephen G. Burnett, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Sixteenth Century Journal XXVII/2 (1996)
