I wish I could rate this higher. I came to it through Walter Laqueur's association with the Wiener Holocaust Library, and I have the utmost respect for his work there. I also think this is a subject growing in importance, and I wanted some insight. But I really struggled with this book's writing. As another reviewer stated, it raises more questions than it does answers--and not in the good way. Laqueur makes many references to things that he doesn't explain and even from sentence to sentence, things don't always seem to relate to each other or seem to contradict each other. In fact, it felt more like a stream-of-consciousness journal entry than a book; that could be an excellent starting point, but whoever the editor was did not do their job and turn it into a book. At the very least, footnotes would have helped a lot; I read with my phone by my side so I could look up an unfamiliar minor historical figure or event every few pages, but I wish I hadn't had to do that. Weirdly for a book that I felt did not go into enough detail about anything, there was a lot of repetition as well.

I really think this is a case of an editor not doing their job. There is a lot here that's worthwhile (such as the various kinds of antisemitism throughout history), but the shapelessness of the writing makes it difficult to get to. ( )

NO OF PAGES: 228 SUB CAT I: Anti-Semitism SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: For thirty years the director of the Wiener Library in London, the leading institute for the study of anti-Semitism, Walter Laqueur here offers both a comprehensive history of anti-Semitism as well as an illuminating look at the newest wave of this phenomenon. Laqueur begins with an invaluable historical account of this pernicious problem, tracing the evolution from a predominantly religious anti-Semitism--stretching back to the middle ages--to a racial anti-Semitism that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The author then uses this historical account as backdrop to a brilliant analysis of the newest species of anti-Semitism, explaining its origins and rationale, how it manifests itself, in what ways and why it is different from anti-Semitism in past ages, and what forms it may take in the future. The book reveals that what was historically a preoccupation of Christian and right-wing movements has become in our time even more frequent among Muslims and left-wing groups. Moreover, Laqueur argues that we can't simply equate this new anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism and write it off as merely anti-Israel sentiments. National and religious minority groups have been systematically persecuted from Indonesia, to Bangladesh, Rwanda, and beyond, but their fate has not generated much indignation in Europe and America. If Israel alone is singled out for heated condemnation, is the root of this reaction simply anti-Zionism or is it anti-Semitism? Here is both a summing up of the entire trajectory of anti-Semitism--the first comprehensive history of its kind--and an exploration of the new wave of anti-Semitism that will be of interest to all concerned about the future of Jews, Judaism, and Israel.NOTES: Purchased from the Amazon Marketplace. SUBTITLE: From Ancient Times to the Present Day