Italian Jews from Emancipation to the Racial Laws

CRISTINA M. BETTIN Senior Lecturer of Italian Languages and Literature at Ben Gurion University, Israel.

• Background of the Jews in Italy Assimilation or Integration of the Jews in Italy Jewish Youth in Italy Italian Youth Movements and Jewish Youth Movements Jewish Youth and Jewish Identity

"Italian Jews from Emancipation to the Racial Laws by Cristina M. Bettin is innovative and interesting for an English reader audience. The historical analysis is theoretically well grounded and the primary and secondary sources are relevant." - Dr. Vincenzo Pascale, Department of Italian, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey"Thanks to her deep examination of the culture and history of the Italian Jews in the first decades of the twentieth century, Cristina M. Bettin sheds a new light on the contribution of the Jews to the political and public life of Italy since its unification in 1861. Bettin's conclusions differ strongly from the previous historiography of Italian Judaism, demonstrating that the origin of these youth movements and cultural societies does not prove assimilation, but rather the integration of the Jews into the Italian nation. No complete study of Jewish youth in Italy during this period has been carried out, especially in English. Bettin's book can therefore be considered a pioneer in this field and will interest a large audience of readers." - Professor Mauro Perani, President of the Associazione Italiana per lo Studio del Giudaismo (AISG)