The French Enlightenment and the Jews: The Origins of Modern Anti-Semitism - Paperback

by Arthur Hertzberg (Author)

Hertzberg develops his daring thesis that the "modern, secular, anti-Semitism was fashioned not as a reaction to the Enlightenment and the Revolution, but within the Enlightenment and Revolution themselves." He finds that modern anti-Semitism owes less to Christian theological mentality than to doctrinaire libertarianism of figures such as Voltaire, d'Holbach, Diderot, and Marat.

Author Biography

Arthur Hertzberg, professor of Jewish studies at New York University, is the author of numerous books, including The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader and The Jews in America: Four Centuries of an Uneasy Encounter: A History (Columbia).