“Sephardic Jews is the perfect companion
for one’s journey into this fabled, living history.”

"The Sephardic Jews is presented in friendly, literate prose, mixing learning with delight, suitable for...readers wanting a background in this significant aspect of world Jewry."

"A great entrée to the lives of Sephardim from ancient Phoenician times to the present.”

Alma Gottlieb, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita of Anthropology, University of Illinois
“This clearly written overview introduces the rich world of Sephardic Jews who have roots in Iberia (especially Spain) and Morocco.  Ron Hart has combed hundreds of sources and distilled them into a fascinating narrative highlighting both high points and little-known characters of Sephardic history.  A great entrée to the lives of Sephardim from ancient Phoenician times to the present.”

Seth Ward, Ph.D.
Professor of Religious Studies, University of Wyoming
The book is beautifully written, oriented towards general audiences...with special interests in the history and culture of Sephardic Jews... an enjoyable and accessible, yet balanced and well-informed approach.

Frances Levine, Ph.D.
President, Missouri Historical Society says:
“Hart traces the history, as well as the religious and cultural traditions of Sephardic Jews with the scholarship of his anthropological training, and the knowledge of a participant in the traditions of Jews living in Diaspora.”

Roger Louis Martínez-Dávila, Ph.D.
Professor of History, University of Colorado and Universidad de Carlos III de Madrid says:
“Sephardic Jews is a much-welcomed gateway to exploring the cultural and religious heritage of this community. Hart’s precise and very readable text reveals the complicated journey of Spanish and Portuguese Jews from their connections to the biblical era and through the 21st century. Turning its pages, one marvels at the instrumental and pivotal contributions that the Sephardim made to Spain. The book is simultaneously a brief chronological history and artful recounting of the lives of key personages like Damia al-Kahina, the Jewish Queen of the Berbers. Yes, Maimonides is here too, but more importantly so are carefully selected poems, letters, and life details of other Sephardic Jews. Its inclusion of images of synagogues, material culture, manuscripts, and people adds a splendid vibrancy to the text. The author also thoughtfully delves into the contemporary issues of crypto-Judaism and returnees to Judaism in the American Southwest. In short, Sephardic Jews is the perfect companion for one’s own journey into this fabled, but living history.”

Dolores Sloan
Author of The Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal
"In this comprehensive recounting of the Sephardim and their epic passages, author Ron Hart takes the reader to a panoply of settings where the remarkable people have left their imprints and continue to live and contribute today...The reader is treated to a smorgasbord of history, religion, the arts and sciences, and material culture, portraying Sephardic Jewish and secular life in the global diaspora settlements of both observant Jews and those who had been forced to convert in the fifteenth century. We visit far-flung regions, such as North Africa and the Old and New Worlds. We learn of the crypto-Jews, converts to Christianity who continued elements of Jewish practice and custom in secret, some claiming their ancestry as Sephardim today, in a variety of pathways.
 "The Sephardic Jews is presented in friendly, literate prose, mixing learning with delight, suitable for young adults as well as casual readers wanting a background in this significant aspect of world Jewry."

Ron D. Hart
is a Research Associate of the Center for Latin American and Iberian Institute at the University of New Mexico. He is a cultural anthropologist (Ph.D. Indiana University) with postdoctoral work in Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.