A spirited and scholarly study of the part the Jews have been forced to play in religious and political upheavals from the time of the Lutheran Reformation to the present shows the interactions of the Jews and their oppressors in detail. Complicated and shifting interplay is evident in the German uphealvals of the 16th Century, in the course and aftermath of the French Revolution capped by Napoleon's bifocal policy. How the Jews fared under ism and communism in Russia, their place in American Civil War history are considered in the array. Dr. Teller also points out the results of acts in regard to Jewish thought and culture -- as in Russia the Pale produced an integrated culture. He deals too with the various factions among the Jews themselves as they tried to adjust to the harassments and gers of life, particularly in time of civil disruption. Dr. Teller is Director of Information and Publications. The Jewish Agency for Palestine and the World Zionist Organization, and his interpretation of the factions of Jewish thought may seem- to other factions- to re his interests. The complex of ideas shrouding the Jews, from that of religious myth to list ism come into focus. Stimulating, somewhat difficult reading for the layman, is requires some background -- from a historical and religious standpoint rewarding.