- Hardcover: 798 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Feb 1986)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0671600443
- ISBN-13: 978-0671600440
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 16 x 5.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 814,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A courageous, dramatic telling of the Jewish homeland's extraordinary story, from the birth of Zionism and its founders on.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an extremely well written, authoritative and impressive book that traces the history of Zionism from it's very origins to the establishment of the State of Israel and to the time that the book was written in 1986.
This secular work reveals the remarkable insight of a trained historian and a former diplomat/politician whose knowledge and experience pertaining to this subject radiates from the pages of this study.
Rarely has a book so eloquently documented how the State of Israel has been subjected to a "siege" ever since its founding day. Even the hostility of the UN towards the Jewish State is so vividly felt in the contents of this work. A book which begins with an autobiographical description of how the writer sat as the Irish delegate at the UN at a time when such delegates were positioned alphabetically... managing to find himself between the delegates of Israel and Iraq!
The amount of detail in this book is breathtaking and will provide any reader with a deeper understanding of modern day Israel and the true history & underlying context of the Middle East conflict. A context which reveals that the Arab violence and hatred of the Jews was present long before the re-birth of Israel in 1948 and that this hatred of the Jews does not originate with the taking of the "West Bank" (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza during the 1967 war.
Indeed, the Palestinian issue is among many of the subjects investigated in this excellent book, which unfortunately was published shortly before the recent Palestinian intifadas began in 1987 & therefore is lacking in any reference to the current situation. However, the relevance and importance of this book cannot be understated. It's historical accuracy is amazingly sound and very readable. It contains an enormous amount of detail which will destroy the cases of many "new historians".
The epilogue of this work evaluates the security of the Jewish state and declares that Israel is obliged, by the nature of it's predicament in the Middle East, to remain on it's guard and to be "the judge of it's own security". The book elaborating that those who would condemn Israel for adopting such an attitude or a "siege mentality" should reflect that this attitude is very much the creation of the nations who attacked & destroyed the Jews of Europe only a few years before the re-birth of Israel and even then from the nation's inception onwards.
The book finishes with the phrase that "what is not in sight is an end to the siege". A description which despite the passing of so many years, leaves the reader to ponder how much has really changed when the fundamental issues addressed in this work are referred to. An exceptional book.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The previous reviewer aptly describes what 'The Siege' attempts, and in my opinion, succeeds in doing which is to catalogue the historical events which help us to understand the unique mind-set of the modern-day Israeli Nation and how her determination to survive is mis-judged as being 'aggressive' and 'detrimental to peace' in the Middle East.
Having read this book many years ago, I would recommend it to those people who want to gain some insight into why Israel will always be in a state of 'siege'. How present day anti-Israeli rhetoric can be traced to a failing British Empire's reluctance to lose its power-base in 'Palestine' with disasterous repercussions to the present day. How 'Cold War' posturing of the USSR, China and the US was paramount to Israel's bid for Independence and ultimate survival. Overall, this is a must read for anyone interested in the making of a Nation and the central figures behind that nationhood.
Having read this book many years ago, I would recommend it to those people who want to gain some insight into why Israel will always be in a state of 'siege'. How present day anti-Israeli rhetoric can be traced to a failing British Empire's reluctance to lose its power-base in 'Palestine' with disasterous repercussions to the present day. How 'Cold War' posturing of the USSR, China and the US was paramount to Israel's bid for Independence and ultimate survival. Overall, this is a must read for anyone interested in the making of a Nation and the central figures behind that nationhood.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
great book on the history of Israel
28 Dec 1998
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
So how did Conor Cruise O'Brien, a born-and-bred Irishman, come to be writing a history of Israel? As he tells it, the United Nations used to seat its delegates alphabetically: and so he, representing Ireland, found himself sitting right between Israel and Iraq. This began his interest in the history of Israel, and his research eventually produced this fantastic book -- well-written, well-researched, and a pleasure to read. The subject matter itself is pretty interesting, and O'Brien has so many great turns-of-phrase that I found myself underlining as I went along. This book is highly recommended to anyone who wants to find out more about how Israel came to be.
31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Essential Jewish History
16 Mar 2001
Format:Paperback
If you only read one book to understand modern Israeli history, this one is it! O'Brien is fair and detailed, and a wonderful storyteller. The book tells the story of modern Israel with religious context but is primarily concerned with the individuals and state actors involved in the epic struggle to create the Jewish state. I read the book twice, partly because it was one of the primary texts for an Arab-Israeli relations class I took in graduate school, and because it was so good. This book provides the necessary details and history to allow a deep understanding of modern day Israel and place the ongoing conflict in the Middle East within historical context.
50 of 58 people found the following review helpful
From an unexpected corner.
6 Mar 2000
Format:Paperback
One of the best books on Israel and Zionism, this volume by Irish author Conor Cruise O'Brien deals with a poisonous subject in an intelligent manner, without avoiding taking sides, but attempting, and mostly succeeding, to understand all sides. Make no mistake, this is a pro-Israel book, and that is what I like about it. It manages to favor the Israelis in their struggle, but the author is an Irishman, so, at least, we won't have to listen to those who accuse anyone that takes a pro-Israel stance of being a Zionist. O'Brien does not see the Arabs with much benevolence, but it is difficult to blame him, given his knowledge of both Israelis and Arabs. His argument is plain from the title: the State of Israel has been subjected to a "siege" ever since its founding day, and, actually, the siege has been in operation from before. To the argument, so many times repeated that some people give it the quality of gospel, that before the creation of the modern State of Israel Arabs and Jews lived in harmony and Arabs didn't resent or hate their Jewish neighbors, O'Brien answers, through argument and solid foundations, that the resentment and hatred were there before World War I, and found expression in some of the most violent outbursts of mob action against the Jews ever seen. Of course not every one hated every one else, but the very powerful seed of dislike of the stranger, the dhimmi (second class subject in a Moslem land, always a non-Muslim, and increasingly a Jew, since Christians had powerful patrons in the nations of Europe) were already there, and so was their bitter fruit. Those who do not like Jews will skip this book, since the author manages to be non-Jewish but very much pro-Israel. However, those who want to know about the conflict, but do not want to read what they fear might be "propaganda" from either side, will find much of value in "The Siege." It has a clear slant, but that does not invalidate its information and the conclusions of the author.
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