Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction: the Russian Empire and its Jews; 1. The pogroms of 1881–2; 2. What was a pogrom?; Part II: 3. Confronting the pogroms; 4. Russian society views the pogroms; 5. The crystallization of prejudice; 6. Prejudice into policy; 7. The pogroms as foreign policy crisis; Part III: 8. Jewish responses to the pogroms; 9. The Jewish press and the emigration crisis; 10. Politics without prophecy; 11. The pogroms as humanitarian crisis; Epilogue: legends of the pogroms.

Promotional Information

Comprehensive new history of the anti-Jewish pogrom crisis in the Russian Empire of 1881–2 by a leading authority in the field.

About the Author

John Doyle Klier (1944–2007) was latterly Sidney and Elizabeth Corob Professor of Modern Jewish History in the Hebrew and Jewish Studies Department at University College London. His previous publications, Russia Gathers Her Jews (1985) and Imperial Russia's Jewish Question (1995), are standard works in modern Russian-Jewish history, along with Pogroms: Anti-Jewish Violence in Modern Russian History (co-editor, 1992).

Reviews

'Highly recommended.' Choice

'Lars Fischer, Francois Guesnet, and Helen Klier have done an excellent job in preparing the manuscript for publication. The book has an excellent chronological appendix and many vivid illustrations and contemporary cartoons. It will remain a landmark study.' Samuel Kassow, Slavic Review

'… a solid and erudite foundation for other scholars to build on.' Patricia Herlihy, The Journal of Modern History

'Anti-Jewish violence was no novelty in the Russian Empire of the nineteenth century, but the extraordinary surge of attacks that broke out in 1881–82 became a watershed, both for imperial policy and for the Jewish response. Though these events seem to anticipate disorders and brutality of later decades, John Klier argues that they were distinctive, warranting attention on their own terms. He meticulously reviews primary and secondary sources to produce a comprehensive chronicle and critique both of the pogroms and of the reactions they provoked.' Robert E. Johnson, Canadian Journal of History