I am currently reading The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt and finding it absolutely fascinating. As a former history student I have some knowledge of Hitler, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust but not at this level.

The general regard for, and popularity of, her book have lead me to trust it as a source and the writing style and copious footnotes further establish its validity in my eyes, but as someone who knows next-to-nothing of the history of the Jewish people in Europe I have nothing to hold the narrative against.

So my question is, in its simplest form, does her narrative and explanation of Jewish history still hold water today, or has the consensus view changed since it was written? Are there any caveats/alternative narratives I should at least be aware of?

I began to wonder about this when Arendt makes claims about the self imposed nature of Jewish 'separateness' and talks of 'court Jews' and 'exception' Jews. I realised I currently have no knowledge to compare these claims with, and also that most of the praise I have previously come across for the book is in explaining totalitarianism as opposed to the history of the Jewish Race. Perhaps unknown to me this is seen now as less authoritative than other aspects of the book? I doubt it, but I don't know.

I'm looking forward to your enlightening answers and any other info on the book that might be relevant to a semi-newbie to the topic.