‘The Spirit of the Age’: Liberal and Progressive Philosemitism

Abstract

It is fruitful to divide the notable philosemites of the English-speaking world into a number of types, and the next four chapters will examine the typology which, we believe, best explains and accommodates the most frequently encountered varieties of philosemitism: liberal and progressive, Christian, Zionist and conservative/elitist. Obviously, these are at best only rough guides. An individual philosemite might well be categorized under several of these headings, while another may well fit under none. Nevertheless, we believe that this is the most useful way to classify the leading philosemites of the century between 1840 and the Second World War, with many examples of all these types. The post-1945 period presents special problems of it own, and\ for that reason we have preferred to treat it separately as the final chapter of this book.