The Jews are one of the great enigmas of history. What makes them unique? What has given them their resilience, their power of survival and their ability to adapt to radically new conditions without losing their identity? What combination of religious faith, social organization, intellectual toughness and poetic imagination constitutes Jewishness? Eighteen eminent scholars address these questions in this illustrated survey of Jewish history from its earliest days to the appearance of Zionism and the foundation of Israel. Equal weight is given to Judaica and to the ways in which Judaism has coped with the challenges of modernity.