The Jew Who Would Be King by Adam Laurence Rovner
"Brings the nineteenth century to life, with its attendant disease, violence, and colonial machinations.”—Jewish Book Council “In Rovner's deeply researched biography, the adventurer's swashbuckling memoirs are. . . . a crowbar of sorts, used to pry open a window onto an era of possibility, prejudice and burgeoning colonial avarice.”—NPR This vivid reconstruction of one man’s life reveals the harsh realities and moral ambiguities of colonial power. The Jew Who Would Be King tells the story of Nathaniel Isaacs—a nineteenth-century British Jew who helped establish the Zulu kingdom only to become a ruthless warlord and slaveholder. Isaacs’ thrilling journey begins with his shipwreck on the shores of Zululand and proceeds to ports across West Africa, including Freetown, Sierra Leone. There, tasked by the colonial governor to end the local slave trade, Isaacs brokered deals that reinforced his own power. Adam Rovner's meticulous archival research in England, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and St. Helena, coupled with his own travels to the remnants of Isaacs’ island stronghold in Guinea, brings this complex figure to life. Through Isaacs’ story, Rovner exposes the entangled forces of Jewish emancipation and antisemitism, slavery and abolition, the stark dichotomies of civilization and “savagery,” and the creation of whiteness versus Blackness.
"A dazzling work of research, written with the flair of a novel" * Kirkus Reviews *
“In Rovner's deeply researched biography, the adventurer's swashbuckling memoirs are not just an entertaining tale worthy of a wary retelling. They're also a crowbar of sorts, used to pry open a window onto an era of possibility, prejudice and burgeoning colonial avarice.” * NPR *
“[A] case study in responsible historiography and biography. . . . Rovner brings the nineteenth century to life, with its attendant disease, violence, and colonial machinations.” * Jewish Book Council *
“When Jewish comic book creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Black Panther character for Marvel, neither probably knew that they owed a debt of gratitude to a long-dead coreligionist. . . . his story remains one worthy of being read, as masterfully told in Rovner’s account. Though largely forgotten today, Nathaniel Isaacs, the unlikely Jewish British adventurer, continues to shape how we perceive Africa, a land foreign to our own, one that continues to possess the possibilities of exploration, excitement and the lure of the unknown.” * Jewish Journal *
“In Rovner's deeply researched biography, the adventurer's swashbuckling memoirs are not just an entertaining tale worthy of a wary retelling. They're also a crowbar of sorts, used to pry open a window onto an era of possibility, prejudice and burgeoning colonial avarice.” * NPR *
“[A] case study in responsible historiography and biography. . . . Rovner brings the nineteenth century to life, with its attendant disease, violence, and colonial machinations.” * Jewish Book Council *
“When Jewish comic book creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Black Panther character for Marvel, neither probably knew that they owed a debt of gratitude to a long-dead coreligionist. . . . his story remains one worthy of being read, as masterfully told in Rovner’s account. Though largely forgotten today, Nathaniel Isaacs, the unlikely Jewish British adventurer, continues to shape how we perceive Africa, a land foreign to our own, one that continues to possess the possibilities of exploration, excitement and the lure of the unknown.” * Jewish Journal *
Adam Rovner is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver. He is author of the acclaimed In the Shadow of Zion: Promised Lands Before Israel.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780520403000 |
| ISBN 10 | 0520403002 |
| Title | The Jew Who Would Be King |
| Author | Adam Laurence Rovner |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | University of California Press |
| Year published | 2025-04-15 |
| Number of pages | 344 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |