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Title: A History of Israel : From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time (Second Edition, Revised and Updated) by HOWARD M. SACHAR ISBN: 0-679-76563-8 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 13 February, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.77 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Indepth, exhaustive and the best book on the STATE of Israel
Comment: This book is required reading in the Near Eastern and Judaic studies department at Brandeis University which has one of the best Israel/Judaic studies programs in the country.
This is the only book that extensively examines the Jewish State entirely in its modern political context, while simultaneously covering world Jewry and the Middle East conflict. Howard Sachar is a renowned scholor who has written much on the topic.
As someone who has traveled to Israel several times, WORKED on a kibbutz for a long period and studied both the country, the region and the interaction between the two; I can tell any critic that this book is highly critical of the Likud party and Israeli irridentism. The West Bank settlers are NOT treated kindly by Sachar and anyone who finds this book unbalanced did not read beyond the first few hundred pages.
This book made me re-evaluate my political position and recognize the many shortcomings of a place I adore.
Rating: 5
Summary: The most definitive account on the subject available
Comment: For those seeking to understand Israeli history there is no better place to turn. While numerous books deal with the Arab-Israeli conflict, few deal with the internal development of Israel. This book explains the processes that led to the rise of Zionism, the building of the pre-state infrastructure, and the growth of the Israeli republic. But foreign affairs are not in the least overlooked, and occupy a great deal of space. In this latest version, Sachar has corrected some of his earlier errors, and deals with the Arabs and Palestinians in a more even-handed manner. While not the easiest book to read, or most concise, it is still the best book available for those seeking to understand Israel, inside and out.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great big book for a great little country
Comment: Besides being the heaviest book I've read in a very long time, A History of Israel, by Howard Sachar, is probably among the most useful anyone will find on that subject. Let's face it, in today's world the subject of Israel still comes up a lot, far more than one might expect for such a small country. And in an atmosphere in which fifty seven percent of people polled list Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, an educated person cannot afford to be ignorant on the matter.
Israel is a great country. And like all great countries (like most countries, actually) it has a right to exist. Its history extends back quite some time before its founding. If you doubt this, or know someone who does, than the early chapters on Zionism and Jewish migration into Palestine will be invaluable. Want to know just how the Jews came to inhabit the land? Was it a land grab? Theft? Acquisition by conquest? The answer is no, and you can get the details here.
What is Israel like? What is its culture? Economics? Daily Life? How about religion? They're Jews, but how devout are they? What power does the rabbinate have? What arts and sciences flourish, or fail to, in Israel? These are also covered, often, and in detail.
Israel has fought five major wars in its short life. Why? Who started them? How did Israel respond? Did these wars exist in a vacuum, or are they part of an ongoing antagonism against Israel from its Arab neighbors? What actually happened in the Six Day War? Just how did the occupation come to be? All of these issues are examined in detail.
Who runs Israel? What is the party structure? What do they believe? How does Israel relate to other countries, and how has this changed over the years? What about the United States? Is Israel really the fifty-first state? Again, these are all issues dealt with in detail.
The operative word here is detail. With over a thousand pages of small font text, Sachar can cover everything he wishes and go as deep as he desires. This is a history text, not a polemic essay. The point is to show Israel for what it is, avoiding the pitfalls that await anyone writing about the most controversial country every to exist. To the extant that Sachar has taken any sides, it would probably be with the Labor party and against the Likud party. As far as Israel's relations with the Arab countries go, he has stated things as they happen. It may be a surprise to many, but Israel has a really good record vis-à-vis the treatment of Arabs and they owe no excuses to anyone over their presence in the world.
So although the book is formidable and very, very long, it is clear and relevant to today's world. If you'd like to get past the shouting and name-calling and really find out about the country, this is the place to look.
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Title: The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz ISBN: 047146502X Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001 by Benny Morris ISBN: 0679744754 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 14 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Six Days of War : June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by MICHAEL B. OREN ISBN: 0345461924 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict by Walter Laqueur, Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin ISBN: 0140297138 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 07 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel by Walter Laqueur ISBN: 0805211497 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 20 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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