"The most comprehensive account of Israeli history yet published."
-- The Sunday Telegraph
"An epic history . . . a picture of an Israel that persevered and
prevailed, that was determined to survive and was unwilling to trust its
independence to others but sought peace whenever possible." --
Foreign Affairs
Israel is a small and relatively young country, but since the day of its
creation more than half a century ago, its turbulent history has placed
it squarely at the center of the world stage. 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, preeminent historian 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, and drawing on his
own intimate knowledge of the country and its people, Martin Gilbert
weaves together a riveting, page-turning history of a powerful and proud
nation, from the struggles of its pioneers in the nineteenth century up
to the present day.
