ABSTRACT
Theodor Herzl's diaries belong to those basic Jewish books which are frequently talked about, but rarely read. Yet, in the whole of Jewish literature there hardly exists a more exciting, a more absorbingly interesting personal document than Herzl's diaries. To the historian and social scientist, the diaries have a still more far-reaching appeal. They are a reportage of events, a plea for a cause, but they are also the document of a growing social movement and a mirror of the author's fascinating, scintillating personality. Indeed, movement and personality are but two sides of one and the same thing. To be sure, Zionist societies and movements, like "Kadimah" in Vienna and the "Chovevei Zion" in Russia, were already in existence when Herzl entered the stage. Encompassed in the diaries is Herzl's use of the prophetic message along with his derision of those who believe in it literally or who presumed to believe in it while they betrayed it.
