A House Divided

Eminent social historian Jacob Katz examines the transformation of the Jewish community against the background of religious conflict in Central Europe. It is a story of fragmentation and polarization that sheds light on tensions within the 19th-century Jewish community in Central Europe as it struggled to respond to the promises and perils of modernization. As an historian, Katz is fully in charge -- controlling his sources, shaping them into meaningful patterns, and presenting them in such a way to as to illuminate their larger significance. -- Commentary