It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance against destruction, of creativity in oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life against the steepest of odds. Professor Simon Schama’s enchanting account of the Story of the Jews beautifully describes a Jewish world immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from the Arabs to the Christians.

As well as Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University, Simon Schama’s art columns for the New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for criticism and his journalism has appeared regularly in the Guardian and the Financial Times, where he is Contributing Editor. He has written and presented forty films for BBC2 on subjects as diverse as Tolstoy, American politics and John Donne and won an Emmy for The Power of Art.

The Spectator is proud to have hosted a special evening with Professor Simon Schama, celebrating the launch of his new book, Story of the Jews: Finding the Words (1000 BCE – 1492).

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