Theodor Herzl

About this book

Biography that traces Herzls tortuous route in Vienna Paris and the major capitals of turn-of-the-century Europe. We see Herzl evolve from a dueling student an aspiring playwright and a sophisticated journalist to the man who decides. in the summer of 1895 to set himself at the head of a movement for the Jews. Although indifferent to religion for most of his life his European experience made him bitterly aware of bow Jews were suffering from anti-Semitism. A blend of concern for what he now saw as his people and exalted ambition inspired him to devote himself to the Zionist movementwhich forty-four years after his death led to the proclamation under his portrait of a Jewish state in Palestine. Through Herzls own journals and letters Desmond SteWart reveals for the rst time intimate details of his private life which played decisive roles in his career: constant ill health; lack of the artistic success he sought; his wretched marriage to a wealthy woman whose values he despised. The events of Herzls life have been chronicled before. But for the rst time Mr. Stewart tells the intensely personal story of this political gure and reveals him in the round as a believable and suffering human being.