 Arendt's "Habilitationsschrift" on Rahel Varnhagen was completed while she was living in exile in Paris in 1938, but not published till 1957, in the United Kingdom by East and West Library, part of the Leo Baeck Institute.This biography of a nineteenth century Jewish socialite, formed an important step in her analysis of Jewish history and the subjects of assimilation and emancipation, and introduced her treatment of the Jewish diaspora as either "pariah" or "parvenu".In addition it represents an early version of her concept of history.