Golden Age Shtetl - A New History of Jewish Life in East Europe

The shtetl was home to two-thirds of East Europes 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.

About the author

Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern

Summary

A major history of the shtetl's golden age

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.

Additional text

"Groundbreaking."---Claire Le Foll, Journal of Jewish Studies

Product details

• Authors: Yohanan Petrovsky-shter, Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, Petrovsky-Shtern Yohanan
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2015
• EAN: 9780691168517
• ISBN: 978-0-691-16851-7
• No. of pages: 448
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Judaism; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, Eastern Europe, European History, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Jewish, HISTORY / Europe / Eastern, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Jewish Studies, Social and cultural history, Relating to Jewish people and groups, C 1700 To C 1800, Social groups: religious groups and communities