Since no group has been more adept at Mercurianism than the Jews he contendsthese exemplary ancients are now model moderns. The book concentrates on thedrama of... » 

Since no group has been more adept at Mercurianism than the Jews he contendsthese exemplary ancients are now model moderns. The book concentrates on thedrama of the Russian Jews including emigres and their offspring in AmericaPalestine and the Soviet Union. But Slezkine has as much to say about the manyfaces of modernity nationalism socialism capitalism and liberalism as hedoes about Jewry. Marxism and Freudianism for example sprang largely from theJewish predicament Slezkine notes and both Soviet Bolshevism and Americanliberalism were affected in fundamental ways by the Jewish exodus from the Paleof Settlement. Rich in its insight sweeping in its chronology and fearless inits analysis this suretobecontroversial work is an important contributionnot only to Jewish and Russian history but to the history of Europe and Americaas well. «