Great source material
I have taken several courses in Jewish history, and many teachers seem to like this book. Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz compiled a broad range of primary source materials including letters, fragments of essays, maps, pieces Legislation, and poetry to flesh out each topic area of the book. For every section of the book there is a well written introductory page which gives historical context to the documents that follow, and highlights some of the changing ideas that they call modern history. Also each piece has a series of explanatory footnotes, which describe the author and how their writings fit into the topic.
This second edition features more material in the appendices, including data which represents recent scholarship. I found myself particularly interested in demographics of Eastern European communities, immigration statistics at the fin-de-siecle, etc.
Overall, I would recommend that students overlook the price tag. The book will serve you well in your studies.
