Jews and the Military: A History (Paperback or Softback)

Penslar, Derek J.

ISBN 10: 0691168091 / ISBN 13: 9780691168098

Published by Princeton University Press 10/27/2015, 2015

About this Item

Jews and the Military: A History 1.27.

Seller Inventory # BBS-9780691168098

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Jews and the Military: A History (Paperback or Softback)
• Publisher: Princeton University Press 10/27/2015
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691168091
• ISBN 13: 9780691168098
• Binding: Paperback or Softback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 1.27 pounds
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

A historical reevaluation of the relationship between Jews, miltary service, and war

Jews and the Military is the first comprehensive and comparative look at Jews' involvement in the military and their attitudes toward war from the 1600s until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Derek Penslar shows that although Jews have often been described as people who shun the army, in fact they have frequently been willing, even eager, to do military service, and only a minuscule minority have been pacifists. Penslar demonstrates that Israel's military ethos did not emerge from a vacuum and that long before the state's establishment, Jews had a vested interest in military affairs.

Spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East, Penslar discusses the myths and realities of Jewish draft dodging, how Jews reacted to facing their coreligionists in battle, the careers of Jewish officers and their reception in the Jewish community, the effects of World War I on Jewish veterans, and Jewish participation in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Penslar culminates with a study of Israel's War of Independence as a Jewish world war, which drew on the military expertise and financial support of a mobilized, global Jewish community. He considers how military service was a central issue in debates about Jewish emancipation and a primary indicator of the position of Jews in any given society.

Deconstructing old stereotypes, Jews and the Military radically transforms our understanding of Jews' historic relationship to war and military power.

About the Author

Derek J. Penslar is the Samuel Zacks Professor of Jewish History at the University of Toronto and the Stanley Lewis Professor of Israel Studies at the University of Oxford. His many books include Shylock's Children: Economics and Jewish Identity in Modern Europe, Israel in History: The Jewish State in Comparative Perspective, and The Origins of Israel, 1882-1948: A Documentary History.