The Story of the Jews [DVD]

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"A towering achievement that demonstrates Schama's finest qualities to exhilarating effect, it is at once epic yet , intellectually commanding but instantly accessible. It is also tremendously moving, both as a document of suffering and a celebration of struggle. There is a tendency when considering any historical documentary series to hark back to the glory days of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, as if it were itself the embodiment of civilisation after which the barbarians were let loose. But Schama's five-part BBC documentary series stands by itself without any need to invoke earlier cultural high points. It is not just a bravura piece of television, but an astonishing recapitulation of a 4,000-year story." - Anthony Andrew, Observer "Simon Schama’s The Story of the Jews (BBC Two) is emerging inexorably as the greatest thing he has done. In the latest episode, giving a simple speech to camera that evoked the Holocaust, he achieved true eloquence even at the point of tears." - Clive James, The Times "Simon Schama's history of the Jewish experience ends with a searing examination of how the Holocaust and the creation of Israel have fundamentally changed what it means to be Jewish." The Times "Simon Schama's combination of objective historian and passionately concerned Jew make the series' conclusion the best episode yet." - Financial Times "Simon Schama's definitive history... has been a tour de force." - Telegraph "I learnt more about Judaism in a simple hour of Simon Schama's perfect starter to The Story of the Jews than I have in all my years on Earth." Euan Ferguson, Observer "It's such a good story, possibly the most dramatic and remarkable story of any people. You need to have a heart of mere muscle not to be moved by the epic saga of the diaspora... and Schama's the man to tell it." - A A Gill, Sunday Times "A fantastic television series, a sweeping analysis of Jewish history from King David to the founding of modern Israel." - Sunday Times "Excellent... Simon Schama's story was as much an investigation into identity, as it was the beginning of a difficult history... Enlightening." - Independent "A gripping story is told with flair and epic sweep."--Mail on Sunday "Scholarly without ever being dull, the best kind of event telly." - Guardian