Jews of England and the Revolutionary Era: 1789 - 1815

The emancipation of Jews during the French Revolution and Napoleon's destruction of European ghettos led to concerns over the loyalty of Anglo-Jewry to the Crown. The elite of the community adopted the traditional approach of Jews, stressing the community's loyalty and avoiding expressing controversial views. This outlook, used for centuries by Jewish communities, reflected both Jewish religious injunctions and a desire for self-preservation. In contrast, a small number broke with this approach and published contentious views on a range of political and religious subjects. Drawing on a rich range of sources, the book examines the extent of anti-Jewish sentiment in England. It breaks new ground by using government archives to demonstrate that these negative representations only had a very limited impact on the implementation of the Alien Act of 1793. The book seeks to understand the deeply held fears of the communal elite but also argues that the controversial views of some of the Jewish dissidents were more widely held than previously thought. As a study of a minority under pressure, the position of Anglo-Jewry in the period has wider relevance in today's multicultural world.