Excerpt from History of Zionism 1600-1918, Vol. 1 of 2 In reviewing the gradual evolution of the Zionist idea over such a wide field, I could not restrict the meaning of the term Zionism to the Zionist Movement and Organization of the present day. I had to go back to the beginning of this idea, and to extend the meaning of Zionism to all aspirations and efforts tending in the same direction. There was in these aspirations, undoubtedly, a diversity of reasons and methods which continues to this day. It is the object of the present work to trace these various currents of the idea so that the reader, passing from period to period. And from section to section, may become acquainted with their relative value and their influence upon one another. In this book I have striven more especially to consider the attitude of the English people towards Zionism, as revealed in the political history and in the literature of England. The Christian religious idea of the Restoration of I smal having been a subject of pre-eminent interest and importance and an influential factor in shaping public Opinion in this country for many generations, the greatest care has been bestowed upon the investigation of this aspect, no less than on that relating to the support and encouragement which Zionism has received ln England and in France merely on humanitarian or political grounds, apart from religious aspirations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.