If you can no longer tell your Sadducees and Pharisees from your Essenes and Zealots, it may be time to enroll in Barron's crash course in Judaism. In short order, Monika Grübel covers everything from the time of the patriarchs in Canaan and the Exodus from Egypt to the Holocaust and contemporary Israel. Grübel touches on the Judges, King David, King Solomon, and the Temple, the exile to Babylon, Alexander the Great, the revolt of the Maccabees and the origins of Hanukkah, Herod, the Bar Kochba uprising, the Mishnah and the Talmud. There are chapters on the Sephardim, the Ashkenazim, and Jews under Islam, Jewish religious factions, Anti-Semitism and Zionism. In addition, there's an index of names, an index of subjects, a glossary, and a guide to Jewish museums. Grübel pulls off a difficult job while making it look easy, as she summarizes the history clearly, makes each topic accessible, and winds up with a text that's so interesting to read that you lose sight of your specific goal, learning about Moses Mendelssohn and Nathan the Wise when you'd just intended to brush up on dietary laws and the dispersion of the Jews from Spain. --Stephanie Gold

Judaism (Crash Course Series)

History

Blum, Bessie

Grubel, Monika

World

Barrons Educational Series. Inc.

Looks at the history of musical instruments around the world, examining their social and cultural development, construction, techniques by which they are played, and repertoires composed or collected for them

Musical Instruments (Crash Course Series)

Arts & Photography

Rademacher, Johannes

Jeffers-Brown, Ann

Schreiber, Sally

Music

Examines the history of ancient Egypt and discusses its people, culture, environment, daily life, art, and influence on cultural life today

Ancient Egypt (Crash Course Series)

Scholz, Piotr O.

Middle East

Looks at the history of sculpture from prehistoric times to the present, and discusses major artists, schools, and movements

Sculpture (Crash Course Series)

Thiele, Carmela

Sculpture

B E S Pub Co

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Books by Blum, Bessie