Karaite Judaism and Historical Understanding (Studies in Comparative Religion)
"Fred Astren’s remarkably illuminating study charts the evolution of Karaite historical expression for a millennium, offering, for the first time in Karaite studies, a multileveled comparative examination of  Karaism in the context of its changing relationship with the rabbinic worldview and with the Islamic and Christian host cultures. The richly documented analysis meticulously unravels the hidden historical and social mechanisms by which the Karaites developed a wide-ranging legal system that echoed the talmudism of their opponents, culminating in their own version of the rabbinic chain of tradition. Karaite Judaism and Historical Understanding will become essential reading to all who are interested in the wider understanding of the relationship of Jewish writings to the study of the Jewish past, and in the emergence and development of historical thinking amongst the Jews."—Meira Polliack, Department of Biblical Studies, Tel-Aviv University