"In this unusually wide-ranging study of representations of Jews in eighteenth-century France - both by Gentiles and by Jew themselves - Ronald Schechter offers fresh perspectives on the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, on Jewish history, and on the nature of racism and intolerance.".

"Schechter argues that the French paid attention to the Jews because thinking about the Jews helped them reflect on a series of general issues of the day. These included the role of dogma and tradition in religion, the perfectibility of human nature, national identity, and the nature of citizenship.

Moreover, Schechter shows how the Jews themselves responded to these discourses that defined them, arguing that they did not merely refute common prejudices and declare the Jew's affinity to French values, but also represented the Jews as the originators of those values.

In a conclusion comparing and contrasting the "Jewish question" in France with discourses about women, blacks, and Native Americans, Schechter provocatively widens his inquiry, calling for a more historically precise approach to these important questions of difference."--BOOK JACKET.