''The Story of the Jews'' is a television series, in five parts, presented by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

historian

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He fir ...

. It was broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

in September 2013 and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

in March and April 2014. It is based on Schama's book of the same title, which is being published in three volumes. The first volume, ''Finding the Words 1000BCE – 1492CE'',

Schama, Simon Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He f ...

: ''The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words 1000BCE – 1492CE'' (2013),

Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...

, was published in September 2013. The second volume, entitled ''Belonging: The Story of the Jews 1492–1900'', was published by

in October 2017.

Episodes

Reception

United Kingdom

In a review for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', Neil Midgley described the first episode as a "resounding success", saying: "Schama told the story efficiently and evocatively – and deftly picked out stories that would illustrate his overarching thesis about how Judaism managed to survive...In Schama’s view, to be a Jew is to be verbal...By the end of this first episode, Schama had given the title of his programme an intriguing double meaning. Over its four remaining parts, The Story of the Jews promises to be not only a chronological history, but also a common narrative of what unifies and fortifies Jewish people". For ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Arifa Akbar said: "Simon Schama’s story was as much an investigation into identity as it was the beginning of a difficult history". Writing in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'',

Andrew Anthony Andrew Anthony is a journalist who has written for ''The Guardian'' since 1990, and ''The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', who ...

called it "an astonishing achievement, a TV landmark".

United States

David Hinckley, for the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'', said: "Schama doesn’t downplay the persecution and martyrdom of Jews throughout history. Neither does he let this interfere with his clear mission of portraying

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...

as a tale of triumph and celebration". Robert Lloyd, TV critic for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', said that Schama "has produced a series that is at once informative, entertaining, thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and, in its final episode, in which he confronts the paradoxes of modern Israel, more than a little maddening. Like the religion and the culture that surrounds it, each of which loves an argument, it is inconclusive and open to discussion".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Story Of The Jews, The 2013 British television series debuts 2013 British television series endings BBC television documentaries about history British documentary television series Films about Jews and Judaism