Jewish modernity flourished between the age of Enlightenment and World War II—and in fact was a major driver of intellectual; scientific; social; literary; and artistic progress in that period. But the age of Jewish modernity is over. That’s the argument that historian Enzo Traverso mounts in this provocative book. With great sensitivity and nuance; he teases out the fundamentally conservative turn that the mainstream of Jewish thought has taken in the years since World War II; revealing its roots in the Holocaust and the establishment of the United Nations and Israel as the new poles of Jewish communal life. Building his argument on a highly original reading of Hannah Arendt’s writings on Jewishness and politics; Traverso offers both an elegy to a lost tradition and a damning intellectual history of the present.
#66862 in Books E Benjamin Skinner 2009-03-24 2009-03-24Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.44 x 1.10 x 5.50l; .73 #File Name: 0743290089352 pagesA Crime So Monstrous Face to Face with Modern Day Slavery
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Enriching source which offers insights on various forms of human traffikcing in the world.By Hugo GlossRight now I am in the middle of the book so I can review only the first half. However I found it very enriching and interestingly written. The chapters of this book are written from the "first person view" based on his personal experiences from different locations around the globe. However he also adds interesting facts;outputs from various researches and references on newspaper articles.During his journey to different places plagued by human trafficking he tells us stories of concrete victims; describes "modus operandi" of local traffickers;the local situation in general and also the effort made by the modern abolitionists.I highly reccomend this book for everyone interested in the topic of HT as a enriching source which offers insights on various forms of human traffikcing in the world.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Incredibly well-researched; but at times slowBy margieebeeFirst of all; I certainly learned a great deal from this book. Skinner does an excellent job of providing of a sample of the different types of modern-day slavery that are present worldwide; without exclusively limiting himself or the book to solely sex trafficking or solely agricultural laborers.At times I couldn't put this book down; I found the chapters on Haiti's child slaves and involuntary prostitution in Eastern Europe particularly engrossing. However; other chapters like those that were more history-oriented detailing the US's in/action on the issues are incredibly fact heavy (names; dates; places); and because of that; were incredibly slow. As someone with little previous knowledge on the topic as a whole; I ended up skimming pages on; say; the history of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. To me; this heavily detracted from the more passionate chapters where Skinner describes his travels and encounters (which are impressive in number) with those enslaved around the world.Overall; I definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in an in-depth look at an important human rights issue with the qualifier that there are certainly some chapters that can be skimmed.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Magnificently written investigation on a stunningly horrific topicBy Robby BarthelmessThis is probably one of the most interesting and well-written books that I have ever read. Skinner is a brilliant author as well as a butt-kicking journalist. His experiences; interviews; and personal connections are completely shared within this book. I was shocked at the experiences that he describes in the work and I was constantly impressed by his well thought out approach to handling such a difficult topic. This truly is a masterpiece. In fact; about a week after finishing it; the message of the book was still sitting in my brain and I was prompted to e-mail Mr. Skinner and thank him for his work.I am going to buy copies of this book and give it to people interested in the topic of human trafficking. This is a must read everyone.
