This book traces the Jewish thread throughout English life from the time of the Tudors to the beginning of mass immigration in the mid-nineteenth century. The writing of English history has very largely been framed without taking note of the Jewish presence at all - here, for the first time, the Jews are shown as an integral part of English religious and social history.

David Katz explores completely new subjects in depth, such as the Jewish advocates of Henry VIII's divorce, and the Jewish conspirators of Elizabethan England, without neglecting themes such as the role of Jewish finance and the emergence of Anglo-Jewish institutions. This extensively researched and readable history of the Jews in England over almost four centuries will be essential for those interested in English and Jewish history alike.