The Thirteenth Tribe Author:Arthur Koestler Koestler's history of the Khazar Empire (c. 700 - 1100 CE), part of which converted to Judaism in about the 8th Century and which then moved Westward toward Hungary in the Mongol invasion of the 12th Century. On that history, Koestler argues that Ashkenazi Jewry are the descendants of those Khazars, thus arguing that there is no racial... more » basis for anti-semitism. Recently, his theory has been challenged but not yet disproved by DNA research (per Wikipedia). Meanwhile, Koestler's presentation of both the history of the Khazars and of his theory are fascinating reading, and open a window into a period of history and of a people mostly long forgotten.« less