An intellectually rich and passionately written history. Anthropologist Melvin Konner takes the whole sweep of Western civilization as his canvas and onto it places the Jewish people and faith. He draws on archeological findings, census date, religious texts, poetry, and oral histories. From the pastoral tribes of the Bronze Age to enslavement in the Roman Empire, from the conversos fleeing the Spanish Inquisition to 18th century European villages, from the Holocaust to the creation of Israel, it's all here.