Non­fic­tion

The Foot­steps of Israel: Under­stand­ing Jews in Anglo Sax­on England

Andrew P. Scheil
  • Review
By – September 28, 2012

The Foot­steps of Israel is an unusu­al book. Scheil trav­els to unchart­ed ter­ri­to­ry as he explores the rich role of Jews in Anglo Sax­on Eng­land, uncov­er­ing Jew­ish ref­er­ences from late antiq­ui­ty to the ear­ly Mid­dle Ages. 

The author goes into great detail — in sources and in his­to­ry, in Latin and in Old Eng­lish— to show con­nec­tions between the images of the Jews through­out his­to­ry. Some of those images are pos­i­tive while oth­ers are images of evil, ugli­ness and hate. 

While Scheil is able to point out ref­er­ences of won­der­ful pride in what was Jew­ish, the real­i­ty is that the vast major­i­ty of this mate­r­i­al points direct­ly to what we know as anti-Semi­tism today.

Mic­ah D. Halpern is a colum­nist and a social and polit­i­cal com­men­ta­tor. He is the author of What You Need To Know About: Ter­ror, and main­tains The Mic­ah Report at www​.mic​ah​halpern​.com.

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