Words of Fire

Ahad Ha'am (the pen name of Asher Ginzberg) is mainly remembered as the 'father of cultural Zionism'. But there was much more to the man and his thought. These essays, laced with a withering wit, show him to have been a brilliant exponent of the art of the essayist. Moreover, as the introduction by Brian Klug explains, his ideas have a direct relevance today, not least in confronting the future of Israel and Palestine. Ahad Ha’am has largely been consigned to history. These essays are selected with a view to making him available in the present, both as a major literary figure and as an acute observer of human nature.