Zionism, as it emerged in the late 19th century, called for a grand effort to create an independent, self-governing Jewish nation. By publicly raising the flag of autonomy, it was the Zionists, ultimately, who accomplished this truly revolutionary change, transforming the structure of Jewry, its condition among the nations, and the play of conflicting religious and secular beliefs.
Completing the most comprehensive and thorough examination to date of the rise and consolidation of this remarkable movement, David Vital's Zionism: The Crucial Phase is the third and final addition to the critically acclaimed history of Zionism. The first volume in the series, The Origins of Zionism covered the years from 1881 to 1897, and was followed by Zionism: The Formative Years which continued the history through 1906--winning both the 1983 Kenneth B. Smilen/Present Tense Literary Award and the Jewish Chronicle/Wingate Award. The final volume considers the critical period on the eve of World War I, when Zionist leadership was faltering, the promise it had held out to the crushed and impoverished Jews of Europe had drastically diminished, and it appeared as if the movement was already in decline. Studying the sources and consequences of this decline and the dramatic and unexpected wartime recovery, Crucial Phase dispels the myths and legends surrounding British policy on Zionism under Lloyd George and Balfour and sheds light on the revolutionary nature of Zionism and its dedicated followers.

How is foreign policy made? Who makes it? To what conscious and unconscious influences are policy-makers subject? What is distinctive about the immensely complex process as it unfolds in Britain? And what, therefore, is distinctive and characteristic about Britain’s foreign policy today? Who in Britain, has the decisive word? Why is the Foreign Office the king-pin of the system? Why does Parliament count for so little? Does public opinion count at all? Originally published in 1968, these are some of the questions which this book considers in the course of a tightly argued but very readable analysis. Some had been considered on their own elsewhere, but this study represented the first attempt by a contemporary political scientist to pull together, in brief compass, all the relevant threads – including the constitutional, the political, the institutional and the sociological. It is done, moreover, on the basis of a sharp assessment of the type of foreign policy problem that most notably confronted Britain at the time. The author has been successively journalist, official of the Israel Government, and university lecturer in politics. Throughout, his special interests and activities have been in the sphere of international affairs and it was while teaching International Relations at the University of Sussex that he wrote this book. He combines the experience of one who has seen the policy being made from the inside with the theoretical insight of the political scientist; he assesses with a sympathetic but unemotional detachment the constraints on the formation of British foreign policy.

The twentieth century has seen both the greatest triumph of Jewish history and its greatest tragedy: the birth of the nation of Israel, and the state-sponsored genocide of the Holocaust. A People Apart is the first study to examine the role played by the Jews themselves, across the whole of Europe, during the century and a half leading up to these events.

How is foreign policy made? Who makes it? To what conscious and unconscious influences are policy-makers subject? What is distinctive about the immensely complex process as it unfolds in Britain? And what, therefore, is distinctive and characteristic about Britain's foreign policy today? Who in Britain, has the decisive word? Why is the Foreign Office the king-pin of the system? Why does Parliament count for so little? Does public opinion count at all? Originally published in 1968, these are some of the questions which this book considers in the course of a tightly argued but very readable analysis. Some had been considered on their own elsewhere, but this study represented the first attempt by a contemporary political scientist to pull together, in brief compass, all the relevant threads - including the constitutional, the political, the institutional and the sociological. It is done, moreover, on the basis of a sharp assessment of the type of foreign policy problem that most notably confronted Britain at the time. The author has been successively journalist, official of the Israel Government, and university lecturer in politics. Throughout, his special interests and activities have been in the sphere of international affairs and it was while teaching International Relations at the University of Sussex that he wrote this book. He combines the experience of one who has seen the policy being made from the inside with the theoretical insight of the political scientist; he assesses with a sympathetic but unemotional detachment the constraints on the formation of British foreign policy.

This sequel to David Vital's The Origins of Zionism (Clarendon Press, 1980) traces the emergence of the Zionist movement through which the Jews were, to a large extent, re-formed as a political people. It concentrates on the decade following the launch of the Zionist movement by Herzl in 1897, when its main ideas and central institutions were established, along with its modes of political, social, and economic action, and its internal ideological and party-political divisions on such issues as religious orthodoxy and socialism. Originally published in 1982, this book won the Jewish Chronicle Prize and the 'Present Tense' Literary Award for history. Professor Vital's major three-volume study of Zionism was completed in Zionism: The Crucial Phase (CP, 1987).

The twentieth century has seen both the greatest triumph of Jewish history (the birth of the nation of Israel) and its greatest tragedy (the state sponsored genocide of the Holocaust). A People Apart is the first study to examine the role played by the Jews themselves, across the whole of Europe, during the century and a half leading up to these events.
In this monumental work of history, David Vital explores the Jews' troubled relationship with Europe, documenting the struggles of this "nation without a territory" to establish a place for itself within an increasingly polarized and nationalist continent. The book ranges across the whole of the continent during this crucial period, examining Jewish communities in all the major countries, describing everything from incrementalism in England to the impenetrable hostility to be found in Germany. The author describes pogroms, poverty, and migration, the image of the Jew as revolutionary, the rise of Zionism and the "Palestinian idea," and much more. Vital is particularly interested in the dynamics within the Jewish community, examining the clash between politically neutral traditionalists and a new group of activists, whose unprecedented demands for national and political self-determination were stimulated both by increasing civil emancipation and the mounting effort to drive the Jews out of Europe altogether. The book ends on a controversial note, with Vital suggesting that the fate of the Jewish people was to some degree their own doing; at times, by their own autonomous action and choice; at others, by inaction and default.
This powerful and stimulating new analysis represents a watershed in our understanding of the history of the Jews in Europe.