The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

New
Paperback
2011
$15.92

In the middle of the First World War, the British War Cabinet approved and issued a statement in the form of a letter that encouraged the settlement of the Jewish people in Palestine. Signed by the Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, the Balfour Declaration remains one of the most important documents of the last hundred years. Jonathan Schneer explores the story behind the declaration and its unforeseen consequences that have shaped the modern world, placing it in context paying attention to the fascinating characters who conceived, opposed and plotted around it - among them Lloyd George, Lord Rothschild, T.E. Lawrence, Prince Faisal and Aubrey Herbert (the man who was `Greenmantle'). The Balfour Declaration brings vividly to life the origins of one of the world's longest lasting and most damaging conflicts.

Synopsis

In the middle of the First World War, the British War Cabinet approved and issued a statement in the form of a letter that encouraged the settlement of the Jewish people in Palestine. Signed by the Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, the Balfour Declaration remains one of the most important documents of the last hundred years. Jonathan Schneer explores the story behind the declaration and its unforeseen consequences that have shaped the modern world, placing it in context paying attention to the fascinating characters who conceived, opposed and plotted around it - among them Lloyd George, Lord Rothschild, T.E. Lawrence, Prince Faisal and Aubrey Herbert (the man who was `Greenmantle'). The Balfour Declaration brings vividly to life the origins of one of the world's longest lasting and most damaging conflicts.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 01 Aug 2011
ISBN 10: 1408809702
ISBN 13: 9781408809709
Book Overview: Drawing on new research, The Balfour Declaration gets to the heart of the present crisis in the Middle East by going back to the roots of the conflict in a British government communication of autumn of 1917.

Media Reviews

'Splendid ... A marvellously well-researched, balanced, and clear-sighted guide to this hideously controversial territory' * Dominic Sandbrook, Evening Standard *
'Jonathan Schneer's lively new account is very much a tale for our times ... his book is interspersed with delightful vignettes' * David Cesarini, Literary Review *
`Why did Britain offer the Jews a home in Palestine? Had they not already offered Palestine to the Arabs, two years earlier? This extraordinarily well-documented and revealing book gives the answers' * Martin Gilbert, Mail on Sunday *
`An excellent and compelling portrait of the intrigues, characters and diplomacy that created the modern Middle East' * Simon Sebag Montefiore *

Author Bio

Jonathan Schneer was born in New York City. He earned his BA from McGill University and his PhD from Columbia University. He has taught at Boston College and Yale University and is currently the professor of modern British history at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has held numerous fellowships in the US and UK and is the author of five previous books, most recently London 1900: The Imperial Metropolis and The Thames. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.