Theodor Herzl

How did Theodor Herzl, an assimilated German nationalist in the 1880s, suddenly in the 1890s become the founder of Zionism? This novel offers an explanation in Herzl's struggle to resolve his own personal conflict over his Jewish identity. It charts Herzl's intellectual development against the background of Austrian political history. "An original and brilliant thesis, exposing a long misunderstood figure. A great book." —Bernard Avishai "Excellent . . . a highly revealing portrait that demolishes Herzl-the-icon." —Michael Marrus "Other biographers . . . have illuminated aspects of [Herzl's] life, but none has been able to produce the kind of intellectual biography that we have here. Jacques Kornberg has done an admirable job of plumbing the depths of Herzl's mind to try to come to an understanding of just why he became a Zionist and why he was literally consumed with promoting Zionist goals." —Cithara "With compassion and critical balance, placing his subject well within his Austrian milieu, Kornberg analyzes Herzl's rhetoric, tergiversations, and profound ambivalence over his politics and identity." —Choice " . . . a masterful display of the sources . . . " —American Historical Review " . . . stimulating, provocative and agreeably iconoclastic . . . powerful and compelling." —German History A novel and provocative explanation of Theodor Herzl's founding of Zionism as a way of resolving his personal crisis over his Jewish identity.