Book excerpt: "Zionism and Technocracy is important reading for anyone seriously interested in the development of the Yishuv during the last decades of Ottoman rule."--Choice "... stimulating and well written... " --Shofar "A pioneering work on the most important aspect of early Zionist history, well researched, well written, highly to be recommended." --Walter Laqueur "Taut and well-written with a fresh approach, Penslar's painstakingly researched study fills an important gap in the literature on the early Yishuv." --The Jerusalem Post Magazine "Penslar has written one of the first 'social histories' of an important aspect of Zionism." --David Sorkin "... Penslar presents an alternative perspective of those early days of Jewish settlement. Instead of a tale of individuals and their efforts, it is history of the organizational efforts to develop the institutions needed to reestablish the Jewish presence on the land." --Midstream The creation of a Jewish homeland in modern Palestine represented a monumental technical achievement. This achievement, and the story of the Jewish technocrats from Central Europe who engineered it, is documented here for the first time--bringing together social, intellectual, and institutional history in a pathbreaking study.