Simon Schama is still engaged in the intensely personal task of The Story of the Jews. Katherine MacAlister speaks to the star historian

Finding The Words is the perfect subtitle for Simon Schama’s new book The Story Of The Jews, because it’s a subject matter he’s been wrestling with on and off for the last 40 years.

The 68-year-old was asked to write the very same tome in the 1970s when lecturing on the subject at Oxford and Cambridge but had the emotional maturity even then to realise he wasn’t ready to embark on such a daunting project.

And yet here we are, on the eve of his talk at The Sheldonian, with the book done and dusted, and the subsequent five part TV series finished. The next volume, The Story of the Jews: When Words Fail (1492 – present day), is due to be published in September 2014 so presumably it is already written. “I was hoping to do it in one go — like an idiot — but no I haven’t finished it yet and I’m still writing it now. It’s no easier though because there are so many alleyways to go down,” he says.

But that’s the thing about Simon Schama, he’s never less than involved, and his keen desire to spread the word and enlighten us all has helped him become one of the most famous and recognised historians in the world.

Despite the enormously controversial, highly political and personally emotive topic he’s currently embarking on, Simon Schama’s own story is equally as fascinating. Born during the Second World War, he grew up in Essex and north London and his father, who had dreams of becoming an actor while working in the rag trade, passed on his aspirations to his son.

“Both my parents were great storytellers and my mother had a gift for astute anecdotes — they were both ebullient and my childhood was steeped in literature.

“My father and I recited Shakespeare’s entire corpus on Sundays, reading all the parts between us. He loved history more than I do and made it an amazing experience,” Simon remembers.

Sadly however his father didn’t live to see all his son achieved. “He died suddenly in 1978, so he didn’t see the unfolding of Simon Schama Enterprises which is a shame because he would have loved it, especially this particular project.”

Mr Schama senior must have had an inkling that his son was destined for greatness after Simon gained a place to read history at Cambridge, was awarded a starred first, and then became a history lecturer at Cambridge and Oxford before moving to America to take up a chair at Harvard, where he has remained ever since.

The BBC then began commissioning Simon’s numerous books, and Schama’s scope for the diverse and the mainstream knew no bounds, diving into anything which piqued his interest whether it be 18th-century Amsterdam, the Jacobean revolution in Paris, Rembrandt, or the History of Britain, mainstream topics competing equally with the obscure for his time and attention. “The BBC very generously lets me continue with these high-end exercises,” Schama says.

But all the while The Story of the Jews remained the elephant in the corner and it has taken Simon Schama until now to face it once and for all. “I was given the option to write it when I was at Cambridge but I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t grasp my own style. I was cringeworthingly chirpy, cheeky, ignorant and opinionated. It’s embarrassing to even think about now. But I knew I wasn’t ready to take on this subject because I also had to come to terms with it in my own lifetime — as a Jew — and I didn’t want to write two separate stories. “So yes, it was a gigantic undertaking. And while I still don’t pretend to be a major authority on it, I gradually came to embrace the subject rather than actively running away from it as I did before.”

What changed? “A TV series was suggested by the BBC and I knew I would be cross if I was hit by a truck and I hadn’t done it.” Even Simon Schama can’t pass such a mammoth undertaking off as a mere vanity project, at which he roars with laughter: “If I’d wanted a vanity project I wouldn’t have done this. I would have written the life and times of Tom Waites or something.

“Because this was VERY personal — it’s all about the relationship you have and how Jewish you are, and what it’s like if you’re not orthodox in a material and spiritual world, which is probably why I put it off for so long. But I was ready to offer something other than the Holocaust or the Israel/Palestine situation so people could stop walking on eggshells and connect with the story, the Jewish story.”

Even so where do you start with something so topical? “I spent a long time thinking about the nature of storytelling versus identity, so the personal stories were my way through, and in terms of controversy I’m old enough to come through it.

“If I wanted a quiet life I would have written about the history of haystacks in Shropshire,” he says blithely. “History should be embattling rather than a stroll down memory lane. And besides, I have a penchant for getting into trouble.”

The result, The Story of the Jews, is being hailed as his lifework. Is this the case? “I honestly don’t know. You can’t pick from among your children,” he says modestly.

His parents would be proud then? “I like to think they might stop eating chicken soup for long enough to say ‘not too bad but could do better’, which is how I feel about it myself,” he says. Proving again why combining a thirst for knowledge with an interest in all things historical and a refusal to let up on himself is still proving such a winning formula.

  • Simon Schama talks about his new book The Story of the Jews Sheldonian Theatre Wednesday, November 20, 7pm Tickets £5 from Blackwell’s or call 01865 333623 or email events.oxford@blackwell.co.uk