Recognized since publication as the definitive account of the philosophical origins of the totalitarian mind, this work remains the foundation for further study of its subject.

Tracing the rise of antisemitism to Central and Western European Jewish history during the nineteenth century, Dr. Arendt delineates the part Jews played both in the development of the nation-state and within Gentile society. With the appearance of the first political activity by antisemitic parties In the 1870s and 1880s, Dr. Arendt states, the machinery that ended in the horror of the "final solution" was set in motion. She further views the Dreyfus Affair as "a kind of dress rehearsal for the performance of our time" -- the first characteristically modern use of antisemitism as an instrument of public policy and of hysteria as a political weapon.