In the Shadow of Zion

Promised Lands Before Israel

by Adam L. Rovner

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Pub Date Dec 12 2014 | Archive Date Dec 16 2014

NYU Press

History | Religion & Spirituality

Description

From the late nineteenth century through the post-Holocaust
era, the world was divided between countries that tried to expel their Jewish
populations and those that refused to let them in. The plight of these
traumatized refugees inspired numerous proposals for Jewish states. Jews and
Christians, authors and adventurers, politicians and playwrights, and rabbis
and revolutionaries all worked to carve out autonomous Jewish territories in
remote and often hostile locations across the globe. The would-be founding
fathers of these imaginary Zions dispatched scientific expeditions to far-flung
regions and filed reports on the dream states they planned to create. But only
Israel emerged from dream to reality. Israel’s successful foundation has long
obscured the fact that eminent Jewish figures, including Zionism’s prophet,
Theodor Herzl, seriously considered establishing enclaves beyond the Middle
East.

In the Shadow of Zion brings to life the amazing true
stories of six exotic visions of a Jewish national home outside of the biblical
land of Israel. It is the only book to detail the connections between these
schemes, which in turn explain the trajectory of modern Zionism. A gripping
narrative drawn from archives the world over, In the Shadow of Zion
recovers the mostly forgotten history of the Jewish territorialist movement,
and the stories of the fascinating but now obscure figures who championed it.

Provocative, thoroughly researched, and written to appeal to
a broad audience, In the Shadow of Zion
offers a timely perspective on Jewish power and powerlessness.

Visit the author's website: http://www.adamrovner.com/.

Advance Praise

"In this path breaking study Adam Rovner takes us on a riveting journey through a boundless fantasy. Masterfully written, this little known chapter in modern Jewish history is also painfully thought provoking, for had there been a viable Jewish homeland anywhere on earth prior to the Second World War, the Holocaust may not have happened."--Tom Segev, author of One Palestine, Complete

"From an island in the Niagara River to the depths of Africa, In the Shadow of Zion shows that the contemporary state of Israel was just one of many modern attempts to solve the 'Jewish problem' through land. This compelling and beautifully written book reveals a history of alternative Zions rendered invisible today by national and imperial ambitions that conspired against them. A masterpiece about the true origins of Zionism and the 'paths not taken,' this volume is a must read for anyone interested in global Jewish history or in the history of Israel."--David Shneer, University of Colorado Boulder

"Through his travel and his scholarship, Adam Rovner recovers the search for a Jewish homeland in upstate New York, in Great Britain’s East African Protectorate (now Kenya), in Angola, on the island of Madagascar and on portions of Australia, and in Dutch Guiana (now Suriname). A fascinating physical and intellectual geography before the establishment of Israel."--Susan Gubar, author of Poetry After Auschwitz

"Equipped with verve and an eye for the absurd detail, Adam Rovner set out across continents and into archives to recover the story of a time when desperation, imagination, and a sheer unwillingness to surrender to reality led some Jews to consider alternate Zions in unlikely corners of the globe. The result is a colorful and offbeat contribution to our understanding of modern Jewish history and of the fevered milieu out of which the state of Israel was born."--Matti Friedman, author of The Aleppo Codex

"In this path breaking study Adam Rovner takes us on a riveting journey through a boundless fantasy. Masterfully written, this little known chapter in modern Jewish history is also painfully...