In 2013, the world media covered a story which showed how some Thai students understand European history, especially involving the Holocaust, the murder of Europe’s Jews during World War II. Students at the Chulalongkorn University art school created a mural where alongside Superman, Captain America, the Hulk, and Batman under white lettering spelling out “Congratulations,” Adolf Hitler was included, giving a Nazi salute.

In high school, Thai students are taught about Asian history and often are less informed about the rest of the world. If you are one of those students, now is your chance to learn more. Simon Schama is a respected British historian who has published books on the American Revolution, the Dutch painter Rembrandt, and the French Revolution.

He has also filmed TV series for the BBC, including a history of Britain. The TU Libraries also own Schama’s best and most honored work, about Dutch culture in the Golden Age.

Now Schama has written a history of Jewish people, which the Thammasat University Libraries have also acquired. The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words 1000 BCE – 1492 CE gives lots of information about how Judaism developed and what happened to Jewish people along the way. Many Jewish people feel close to Buddhism and some even consider themselves Buddhists. Among these Jewish Buddhists are the Hollywood stars Robert Downey, Jr., Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Jeremy Piven, Steven Seagal, and many others. Some Buddhists also feel especially close to Jews. In 1989, the Dalai Lama met with Jewish scholars in New York.

The Dalai Lama told them: “We always talk of the Jewish people scattered in so many countries, speaking so many languages. Yet the Jews keep their traditions. It is something very admirable.” The Dalai Lama added that he wanted to learn the Jewish “secret technique” of surviving thousands of years of persecution. He likened the situation of the Tibetan people in exile from their country to the story of the Jews over many centuries, concluding: “We have to learn from the experiences of our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

So Simon Schama’s book might be of some special interest to Buddhists. It is linked to a miniseries for British television, with some of the vividness of a TV script. It even includes lively jokes, despite the serious and sometimes tragic subject matter. Schama underlines the fact that from ancient times, Jews were a lot closer to people from other religions than is generally thought. Yet Jews were also regularly murdered, just because of their religious origin. Thai readers who have little or no idea about the subject matter might want to start by reading one of the more straightforward, direct histories of the Jewish people also in the collection of the TU Libraries:

(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).