Beyond the Nation-State

"Beyond the Nation State not only provides a refreshing look into Zionist history, but has striking relevance for today’s Israel. One would like to make it compulsory reading."—Michael Brenner, Reading Religion

"This is an important book. It is admittedly polemical but also creative, well argued, and penetrating. It aims to shift paradigms, and it succeeds in this goal."—Brian Horowitz, H-Net Reviews

"Beyond the Nation-State makes an important contribution."—Nadav Shelef, Israel Studies

"A thought-provoking, evidence-based study. . . . the pre-1937 ideas Shumsky brilliantly analyzes are in my reading profoundly more relevant today than they have ever been during the years they were articulated."—Moshe Behar, H-Net Reviews

“A major achievement. This is a cogent, eye-opening, deeply researched work of scholarship that should transform how pre-state Zionism is taught and understood.”—Daniel B. Schwartz, Journal of Modern History
 

Honorable mention for the Shapiro Award, sponsored by the Association for Israel Studies

Received special mention for the 2019 Ab Imperio Award, sponsored by Ab Imperio Quarterly

“A must-read for scholars in the field, this is a brilliant, trenchant critique of current dominant interpretations of the Zionist movement and the birth of the state of Israel.”—Alon Confino, author of A World Without Jews

“This provocative study disrupts the uncontested link between Zionism and statism. It will no doubt ignite important popular and scholarly debates about the past, present, and future significance of Zionism and the state of Israel.”—Noam Pianko, University of Washington
 

“Beyond the Nation State brilliantly situates Zionism in the context of early twentieth‑century European political theory and global debates over minority rights. This is a must-read for all students of modern Jewish politics.”—Eliyahu Stern, Yale University

“Dmitry Shumsky’s recovery of pre‑WWI Zionist aspirations for Jews to live as autonomous nations in multinational imperial states is revelatory. His analysis is exquisite—offering hope that a deeper understanding of Zionism could liberate Israeli Jews searching for a way to live in a binational society.”—Ian Lustick, University of Pennsylvania
 

• “With daring and verve, Dmitry Shumsky challenges the claim that political Zionism meant a mono-ethnic nation-state. In his bold retelling, Shumsky offers a fascinating alternative to Arthur Hertzberg’s classic The Zionist Idea.”—David N. Myers, University of California, Los Angeles