| The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Hinges of History) | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas Cahill
Publisher: Anchor Books/Nan A Talese
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $2.00
You Save: $12.95 (87%)
New (50) Used (129) Collectible (6) from $2.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  141 reviews
Sales Rank: 10471
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0385482493
Dewey Decimal Number: 909.04924
EAN: 9780385482493
ASIN: 0385482493
Publication Date: August 17, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: 100% GUARANTEED! Fast shipping on more than 1,000,000 Book, Video, Video Game & Music titles all in one location! Discover Your Entertainment at goHastings.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Deceptive but Sellable Book November 27, 2008
This book was written as a sensationalist bit of entertainment, not as a serious study of the Jewish legacy. It's a skillful work in that it will leave the uncritical reader believing they have just experienced something enlightening and mind expanding. And this is where the deception comes in. He sets forth his philosophical position and then uses imagination and anachronistic thought attribution to the ancients as well as huge massive generalizations to render a complex and, in some ways, unknowable subject area simplistic and appealing. But nuance and uncertainty are boring and do not sell books, so you wont find any of that here.
Also, there is no presentation of the downside. You know, the mutilation of the sex organs of infant boys, the insane misogyny (see the story of Lot as an example of how they valued women), slavery, etc.
All in all, this is a cynical book that looks to cash in by presenting fanciful ideas and imaginative scenarios as hard fact. If you want the real story, look for books by accredited academics with actual reputations of intellectual integrity. It might be a bit more boring, but you'll see the world through more insightful eyes.
And don't buy this book, it'll just encourage him to write another.
 Excellemt Glimpse Into Our Common History November 11, 2008
This book should be required reading in that it shows that through our common history, we have more in common with each other, than we have differences.
How God changed the world August 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Look around his occasional skepticism and viewpoint of higher criticism. This is a classic account of how God changed the world, and how the Jews and their God helped create a civilization to save.
Cahill has a light and at the same time profound touch that hits at the heart.
EXCELLENT July 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent book detailing the beginning of the first monotheistic religion
The author tells the story in a wonderful proseful way and most important suggests the importance of the beliefs mentioned in the book to the world.
For Racists June 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great book if you are in fact a westerner with very low esteem. It will teach you that everything about you is good and everything about everyone else is bad. But seriously. There are so many untrue things in this book that I am not even going to bother (Nobody wrote linear History except the Jews. Ha! I say it again. Ha! ). If you are generally unreflective and have a need- that deep urge towards group/ social/ racial superioity- by all means purchase this book. If you are reflective, this is not the book for you.
|
|
|
