Heinrich Graetz — History of the Jews (1891–1898)

The landmark six-volume history of the Jewish people, from ancient times to the nineteenth century.

Heinrich Graetz was the first historian to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. The English edition, published by the Jewish Publication Society of America, traces centuries of Jewish life, learning and survival, including expulsions, massacres and forced conversions across Europe and the Middle East.

Graetz wrote before the twentieth century, so his history ends long before the Holocaust. It remains essential for understanding the long history of persecution that came before it.

Part of the Boston Made Reader’s special collection Courage, Conscience & Service. Every book and document here is free to read.