Israel: A History

Israel: A History

by Martin Gilbert (Author)

Synopsis

Israel is a small and relatively young country, but its turbulent history has placed it squarely at the centre of the world stage for most of this century. For two millennia the Jews, dispersed all over the world, prayed for a return to Zion. Until the nineteenth century, that dream seemed a fantasy, but then a secular Zionist movement was born and soon the initial trickle of Jewish immigrants to Palestine turned into a flood as Jews fled persecution in Europe.From these beginnings, Martin Gilbert traces the events and personalities that would lead to the sudden, dramatic declaration of Statehood in May 1948. From that point on, Israel's history has been dominated by conflict: Suez, the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the Lebanon and the Intifada. Using contemporary documents and eyewitness accounts, drawing on his own intimate knowledge of the country and its people, Martin Gilbert weaves together a seamless, page-turning history of a powerful and proud nation,with a new chapter to cover the last ten years, bringing the story right up to date: the continuing conflicts, and the ever-present avenues of hope.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 816
Edition: 60th Anniversary ed
Publisher: Black Swan
Published: 26 Feb 2008

ISBN 10: 0552774286
ISBN 13: 9780552774284
Book Overview: A new edition of Martin Gilbert's seminal history for Israel's 60th anniversary.

Media Reviews
Rich in detail... a grand, heroic narrative * The Times Literary Supplement *
Martin Gilbert has left us in his debt, not only for a superlative history of Israel, but also for a restatement of the classic vision of Zion, in which a Middle East without guns is not a bedtime story but an imperative long overdue. This is the vision for which Yitzhak Rabin gave his life. This book is tribute to his memory -- Jonathan Sacks * The Times *
The most comprehensive account of Israeli history yet published -- Efraim Karsh * Sunday Telegraph *
Not just an invaluable piece of historical research, it is also a joy to read... Required reading for anyone who wants to understand that most extraordinary and perplexing country * Jewish Chronicle *
Author Bio
Sir Martin Gilbert was Winston Churchill's official biographer, and one of Britain's leading historians. His The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy is considered the classic work on the subject, and he is the author of more than sixty other books, including Churchill: A Life, First World War, Second World War, Israel: A History, A History of the Twentieth Century, The Righteous, Auschwitz and the Allies and Jerusalem in the 20th Century. Martin Gilbert died in February 2015.