Emancipation was ambiguous. Acceptance carried expectations, as well as opportunities. Integrating into British society required changes to traditional Jewish identity, just as it also widened conceptions of Britishness. Many Jews willingly embraced their environment and fashioned a unique Jewish existence: mixing in all levels of society; experiencing economic success; and organising and translating its faith along Anglican grounds. However, unlike many other European Jews, Anglo-Jews stayed loyal to their faith. Conversion and outmarriage remained rare, and connections were maintained with foreign kin. The community was even willing at times to place its Jewish and English identity in conflict, as happened during the 1876-8 Eastern Crisis--which provoked the first episode of modern antisemitism in Britain.
The nature of Jewish existence in Britain was unclear and developing in the post-emancipation era. Focusing upon inter-linked case studies of Anglo-Jewry's political activity, internal government, and religious development, Michael Clark explores the dilemmas of identity and inter-faith relations that confronted the minority in late nineteenth-century Britain. This was a crucial period in which the Anglo-Jewish community shaped the basis of its modern existence, whilst the British state explored the limits of its toleration.
About the Author
Michael Clark was educated at the Universities of Exeter and Sheffield before receiving his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 2006. He has worked for HM Treasury since 2005.