Iwant toknow and understand thehistory of his peoplehave a choice.Manybooks, howto choose?If youread thesatiresV.Jabotinsky,Ben-Gurion'smemoirs, the book byA.Shapira, "Rabbi," thatwill seemthat all JewsareZionists, foughtfor the idea andsettledEretz Yisrael.After reading thetwo volumesof anti-SemitismPolyakovwhole storyseemsanightmare ofendlesspogroms andblood libels.Even thegreat bookS. Dubnov, "The Bookof Life" (beautifullyreprintedrecently)might give the impressionthat the Jewsonly, anddid what theywere arguing, foundedthe party,philosophized.
To reducethis mosaicinto a singleintegrated pictureof Jewish lifein Russia -ataskset acompiler ofan anthology, "Being a Jewin Russia..."Dr. N.Portnov.Readingscontainspapers, articles, memoirs,fiction, and other materials, oftenfirst publishedin Russian.Of particular interest tothe reader,the teacherwill providematerialson how tolearnRussian Jews.