Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the Aftermath of the Great War

This tour de force covers the oft overlooked period of 1918-1939 when Europeans democracies oen by one disappeared, overun by communism and fascism. This is the story of the Jews, but more then that it is a story of Europe, the times, the culture, the politics, the arts, and of minority rights in a continent torn by ideas. This is the essential work for the period and covers such an array of personalities as to both suprise and stun. From Poland's Pisudski, to Kafka, Freud, and Bela Kun. All the major actors are here, painted in a wonderful matter and shown in the times and places that made them, the context of their relations within or with the Jewish community is the crowning acheivement in this excellent study. This book takes us inside the worlds of Poland, where Jews amounted to 10 percent, inside the congresses in AMerica where concerned Jews lobbied on behalf of their ancestors in easter europe. Here we learn of forgotten genocides in Ukraine in the 1920s and of the situation of German Jews and also of the oft not studied Jews of Bulgaria and Hungary. THis book will be of interest to anyone, especially those looking to learn about the history of Europe between the wars and the situation of Jews, a situation which made Israel so neccesary. Seth J. Frantzman