In 701 B.C. the Assyrian empire was in its ascendancy. It had already vanquished the kingdom of Israel to the north including the capital at Samaria. It then prepared an assault on Judah and its capital at Jerusalem.
But in one of those significant events that changes the course of world history, Assyria was repelled. Jerusalem was saved until 586 B.C. when the Babylonians sacked the city, forcing its leadership class into exile.
Henry Aubin, in a major feat of scholarship, determines that Jerusalem was aided by a Kushite army from Africa which had marched northeast from the Nile valley. While the Bible attributes the Assyrian retreat to an angel and secular commentators cite pestilence, Aubin, in a meticulously documented work, demonstrates that an alliance with the African nation of Kush bolstered Jerusalem’s defences.
Kush, also known as Nubia, was located in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. A monarchy that existed for more than 1000 years, from 900 B.C. to A.D. 350, Kushites held sway over Egypt from 712 B.C. to about 660 B.C. Of Egypt’s 31 dynasties, this, the 25th Dynasty, is the only one that all scholars agree, was black.
The commander of the Kushite expeditionary force was Taharqa (or as the Bible calls him Tirhakah). This Kushite prince, who had his own interests in halting Assyrian expansion, likely caught the aggressors by surprise as they prepared their siege of Jerusalem.
Aubin offers a thrilling military history and a stirring political analysis of the ancient world. He also sees the event as influential over the centuries.
The Kushite rescue of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah enabled the fragile, war-ravaged state to endure, to nurse itself back to economic and demographic health, and allowed the Hebrew religion, Yahwism, to evolve within the next several centuries into Judaism. Thus emerged the monotheistic trunk supporting Christianity and Islam.
“The best assessment available on the state of knowledge on the Final Solution, on motives, resistance, and collaboration, as well as the reaction of the outside world. This book is also the best short review of this tragic period.”
Walter Laqueur
“It is an ideal introduction to the subject for any student of the Holocaust, and an authoritative summary for the experts.”
Yehuda Bauer Hebrew University, Jerusalem
U.P.N.E. US/87
Lester & Orpen, Dennys CAN/88
Weidenfeld and Nicolson UK/89
Penguin Books UK/89
New American Library US/89
Penguin Books Canada CAN/89
Editions Eshel FR/90
Il Mulino IT/92
Wieda Powszechna POL/93
Jiji Tsushin-Sha Japan/96
-History Book Club Main Selection
-Wallace Ferguson Prize
-Toronto Jewish Book Award
-Outstanding Academic Book 1988-89
THE HOLOCAUST IN HISTORY
The Holocaust in History, brings together the findings of historians on important questions. How did Nazi police evolve to mass murder? How should we evaluate the roles of collaborationist governments, allies of the Third Reich, and the Jews themselves? Would there have been a holocaust without Hitler?
Michael Marrus, a professor of history at the University of Toronto, is also the author of Mr. Sam: The Life of Samuel Bronfman, an award-winning biography; The Unwanted: European Refugees in the 20th Century (OUP); and co-author with Robert Paxton of Vichy France and the Jews.
