The Jewish Peril

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The Jewish Peril—London, 1920—First English language edition—published by Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd.—of the Protocols of Zion—translated by George Shanks

The Jewish Peril is the lead, or main, title of the first English edition of the notorious antisemitic plagiarism most commonly known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The full title of the edition was The Jewish Peril, Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. In 1920 the printing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd, the royal printers, received a private commission to publish the text. The firm thus acquired the dubious distinction of being the first to publish it in English (if not in the "King's English") at least in printed book form. It was printed in London, England, in 1920. In the United States this text is known most commonly by the above sub-title, the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.

In recent years this edition has been identified as having been translated from the Russian language into the English language by George Shanks, a journalist employed by The Morning Post.

The ultimate available and earliest published source of these so-called Protocols is contained in the Russian language text, Velikoe v malom i antikhrist, by Serge Nilus, on chapter 12, which is titled in the Table of Contents, as Antichrist, an Imminent Political Possibility. An original copy is available in the British Library.

This text has been conclusively demonstrated to be a plagiarism in 1921 by Philip Graves, and in 1935 in the Berne Trial.