About the Author

Dr. Steven Kaplan is Senior Lecturer in Comparative Religion and African Studies and Chair of the African Studies Department at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Beta Israel (Falasha) in Ethiopia: From Earliest Times to the Twentieth Century, also published by New York University Press.

Reviews

"...balanced and well informed...a striking piece of scholarship aimed at demythologizing the origins of the Ethiopian Falasha." -Foreign Affairs "Kaplan's definitive treatment will be of interest to students and scholars of Jewish history, African history, and comparative religion, as well as anyone interested in Jewish affairs and the modern Middle East." The Midwest Book Review "Kaplan's conceptualizations are judicious and clearly expressed...incisive and well documented... and provides essential background for the process of assimilation now taking place in Israel." -The International Journal of African Historical Studies "Kaplan's able interdisciplinary approach is of great value for persons interested in religion, civilization, and process of change." -Religious Studies Review "Kaplan's well-written, lucid presentation make[s] this important, competent contribution accessible to all levels of readers. Highly recommended.ChoiceInsightful and thorough, a welcome contribution."Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Professor of Music, Harvard University "Undoubtedly the most detailed, most scholarly, and most dispassionate argument of Falasha history hitherto published. [T]his work deserves ... the most careful study by all those (and in particular in Israel) who have any practical or scholarly connection with the Beta Israel." -- Edward Ullendorff, Emeritus Professor of Ethiopian Studies, University of London, Fellow of the British Academy "Given Kaplan's facility with both written and oral sources, he is in a unique position to synthesize and reconcile the new historical findings of ethnographers with the written sources and differing conclusions of earlier historians and linguists. His work is insightful and thorough, a welcome contribution." -- Kay Shelemay, Wesleyan University