Reviews for Escaping the Self-Determination Trap

The average rating for Escaping the Self-Determination Trap based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-09-05 00:00:00 Quentin Bentein Argues that the Jews developed an internal economy of trade to supply themselves with their needed religious goods. This also led to a solidifying of networks within and beyond the empire that permitted the Jews to expand into trade elsewhere, which was mostly in textiles. Contra earlier scholarship, the Jews did not lose ground to the Italians in the twelfth century but rather benefitted from the markets that opened up. Notes that Jews had no special corporate relation to the Byzantine state - they were all assessed at the basic level of the hearth when it came to taxes. In general, the book feels a bit torn between trying to discuss the Jews as a people in Byzantium and the Jews as merchants in Byzantium, which is probably a reflection of the state of the field.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-10-13 00:00:00 Jan Liegeois A touching story, for what there was of it. The book story is about 130 pages, double spaced. The author is a wonderful guy, but not a writer. I recommend you move on to read a different WWII book.