History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. 1 (of 2)

Written in 1919 by a founding father of the Zionist movement, this volume captures something no later history can: the raw, urgent perspective of an eyewitness shaping the very events he documents. Nahum Sokolow traces Zionism not from Theodor Herzl's 1896 manifesto, but from its earliest stirrings in the seventeenth century, revealing a centuries-long thread of Jewish longing for national renewal that mainstream histories had ignored. His focus on England and France illuminates how Enlightenment ideals and colonial politics intersected with Jewish aspiration, creating unexpected openings for a modern Jewish state. This is not detached scholarship but a passionate argument for legitimacy, written when the Balfour Declaration was barely a year old and nothing was certain. Sokolow excavates forgotten figures, dormant debates, and early failed attempts that laid the groundwork for what would become a political reality. For readers seeking to understand how Zionism moved from marginal dream to international policy, this foundational text remains indispensable, preserving the intellectual and emotional climate of a pivotal historical moment.