Abba Rubin explores the relationship between the history of a minority--the English Jew--and its depiction in literature. He begins with an historical investigation of the composition of the Jewish community at the time of the Jews' return to England in 1660 and the differing conditions in London and in the provinces. Rubin looks at the relationship between the English Jew and his Christian countryman. Subsequent chapters examine the depiction of the Jew in English literature from the Restoration to the 1830s.