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Antisemitism is an exceptional historical phenomenon. Its history goes back at least 2000 years and has manifested itself in many countries and in a wide range of societies. However, it is not a universal phenomenon. Many countries have no tradition of anti-Semitism and even in those where anti-Semitism periodically raises its head, there have been long periods where it appears to have lain dormant. But it has never altogether disappeared, and all the large-scale social changes of the past two millennia have given it extra impetus. This definitive study tackles the complex roots and manifestations of anti-Semitism over the centuries, tracing the rise of anti-Jewish stereotypes and the circumstances in which racial prejudice may have tragic concequences. This book will quickly become a classic text for students and researchers in this persistent and worldwide prejudice. - Antisemitisme is een uitzonderlijk historisch fenomeen. Het kent een geschiedenis van tenminste 2000 jaar en manifesteerde zich in een groot aantal landen en in zeer verschillende samenlevingen. Toch is het geen universeel verschijnsel. Veel landen kennen geen antisemitische traditie en daar waar het antisemitisme wel de kop opstak, zijn er ook lange periodes waarin het alleen onderhuids aanwezig lijkt te zijn. Verdwenen is het nooit en alle grote maatschappelijk veranderingen van de afgelopen 2000 jaar hebben het antisemitisme eerder versterkt dan verzwakt. In The Drawing of the Mark of Cain behandelt Dik van Arkel deze gecompliceerde problematiek. Hij gaat in op de ontwikkeling van het anti-joodse stereotype en onderzoekt de omstandigheden waaronder anti-joodse vooroordelen kunnen leiden tot vervolgingen.

There are three good reasons at the present time to try to arrive at an historical model to explain the development of anti-Jewish stereotyping and prejudice, and in this way, provided it is worked out at a sufficiently high level of abstraction, at an historical model of racism.Thefirstreason is that both the Netherlands and its neighbours are increasingly faced with racism and that for a good line of action it is necessary to collect all kinds of knowledge. Moreover, it is desirable that historians prove willing to co-operate by making their particular contribution to this collection of knowledge. Thesecondreason is that in contemporary thinking about history a tendency seems to have made itself felt that considers the narrative element of history as the only true activity of the historian, so that a hypothetical-deductive, one might say Popperian, approach to the past seems to be wrong. Although I do not want to enter into a methodological discussion, which I am glad to leave to my friend P. H. H. Vries, who has very capably formulated a point of view that I subscribe to, my intention is to show the usefulness of an abstract, partially mathematical, model in this article. By the way, in the framework of an article it is impossible to present an extensive test of the predictions of the model by means of source material. It can only be hinted at. This article is not non-narrative because I want it to be non-narrative, but because of lack of space. A full exposition would need a book. I shall only present in summary what I hope is the logical argument that lies at the basis of the model.