The shtetl was home to two-thirds of East Europe's Jews in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; yet it has long been one of the most neglected and misunderstood chapters of the Jewish experience. This book provides the first grassroots social; economic; and cultural history of the shtetl. Challenging popular misconceptions of the shtetl as an isolated; ramshackle Jewish village stricken by poverty and pogroms; Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern argues that; in its heyday from the 1790s to the 1840s; the shtetl was a thriving Jewish community as vibrant as any in Europe.Petrovsky-Shtern brings this golden age to life; looking at dozens of shtetls and drawing on a wealth of never-before-used archival material. Illustrated throughout with rare archival photographs and artwork; this nuanced history casts the shtetl in an altogether new light; revealing how its golden age continues to shape the collective memory of the Jewish people today.
#9583927 in Books 2012-04-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.00 x 6.10 x 9.20l; 1.40 #File Name: 0691151768320 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Liked th book so far..By Jenny Jacobs :-)A bit too academical sometimes but I am already at page 50 and I liked the book so far..Its special because I haven't seen any conspiracy theories in the book so far which has become like a commonplace in books of this genre..Will update this review as I go..5 stars!
