The Haskalah Movement in Russia

by Jacob S Raisin, T S Wentworth (Foreword by)

Overview

This book, from the series Primary Sources: Historical Books of the World (Asia and Far East Collection), represents an important historical artifact on Asian history and culture. Its contents come from the legions of academic literature and research on the subject produced over the last several hundred years. Covered within is a discussion drawn from many areas of study and research on the subject. From analyses of the varied geography that encompasses the Asian continent to significant time periods spanning centuries, the book was made in an effort to preserve the work of previous generations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781241094010
Publisher:	Primary Sources, Historical Collections
Publication date:	02/01/2011
Series:	Primary Sources, Historical Collections
Pages:	394
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 0.81(d)

Read an Excerpt

'Still, Alexander I approached his object only tentatively. Haskalah during his reign was like the Leviathan in the Talmudic legend which resembled an island, so that wayfarers approached it to moor under its lee and find shelter in its shade, but as soon as they began to walk and cook on it, it would turn and submerge them in the stormy and bottomless sea. The Jews were invited or induced to forsake their religion, and only the less discerning were caught in the snare. It remained for the "terrible incarnation of autocracy," Nicholas I (1825-1855), or, as his Jewish subjects called him, Haman II, to fill their cup of woe to overflowing and employ every available means to convert them to his own religion.'
—from chapter 3, 'The Dawn of Haskalah'

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter I. The Pre-Haskalah Period
Chapter II. The Period of Transition
Chapter III. The Dawn of Haskalah
Chapter IV. Conflicts and Conquests
Chapter V. Russification, Reformation, and Assimilation
Chapter VI. The Awakening
Notes
Bibliography
Index