In May 1947 Alexander Rubowitz, a Jewish teenager, was mysteriously abducted in Jerusalem. He was never seen again. Rubowitz was active in a Zionist underground group fighting British rule in Palestine. Witnesses said he was seized by British policemen. A grey felt hat found at the scene was traced to Major Roy Farran, a highly decorated ex-SAS officer leading a covert counter-terrorist squad. As evidence of murder grew Farran fled to Syria. He was persuaded to return and was acquitted after a sensational court martial. He came home to a hero's welcome. But the Zionist underground swore vengeance. It had already penetrated British homeland security and now it sent its top man after Farran. 'Major Farran's Hat' explores the reasons why Britain lost Palestine, why its counter-insurgency strategy collided with its diplomacy, and why the tactics of the security forces were ill-judged, poorly executed, and futile. Setting Farran's remarkable story in the context of the first modern campaign of international terrorism, it draws on recently declassified files of the Security Services to reveal the full extent and ambition of Jewish terrorist attacks on Britain in the late 1940s. Part Boys' Own adventure, part narrative history, 'Major Farran's Hat' solves a murder mystery and exposes a shady episode in the final years of the British empire. This story of violence, cover ups and expediency throws light on Britain's legacy in the Middle East, with remarkable echoes of today's War on Terror.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Norman Rose

1

Paperback
£12.99

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

David Cesarani

2

Hardcover
20 offers from £0.01

Product details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Heinemann; 1st Edition edition (5 Mar. 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0434018449
ISBN-13: 978-0434018444
Product Dimensions: 16.2 x 2.5 x 24.1 cm
Average Customer Review: 4 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 563,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #598 in Books > History > Middle East > Israel & Palestine > Palestine
- #872 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Countries & Regions > Middle East
- #1057 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Civil Liberties & Political Activism > Political Violence

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Product description

Review

David Cesarani ... has now combined the excitement of a thriller with the use of hitherto unexamined sources ... Cesarani's meticulous investigation of 'counter-gang' and 'pseudo-gang' techniques leads to this great conclusion: Wherever the form was employed it resulted in illegality, extra-judicial execution (that is to say murder) and scandal. The toxic legacy of the special squads contaminated British colonial policy for decades. --Jonathan Mirsky, Spectator

In 200 or so tightly written and commendably referenced pages Professor David Cesarani tells the tragic story of Rubowitz and the equally tragic story of Farran, against the dreadful backcloth of the last, bloody years of the Palestine Mandate. --Jewish Chronicle

... an expose of the last days of the British mandate in Palestine and the tension between the civil and military authorities in the struggle against various strands of the Zionist movement ... the great triumph of this book is in exposing what happens when those in the world of intelligence work outside the law ... MAJOR FARRAN'S HAT is a piece of contemporary history with bite and verve. --Tony Kushner, Times High Education

Review

`In 200 or so tightly written and commendably referenced pages Professor David Cesarani tells the tragic story of Rubowitz and the equally tragic story of Farran, against the dreadful backcloth of the last, bloody years of the Palestine Mandate.'

See all Product description

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Major Farran's Hat: Murder, Scandal and Britain's War Against Jewish Terrorism 1945-1948 Paperback

Dr David Cesarani

3

£9.99

Customer reviews

1 star (0%)

Write a customer review

See all 4 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

David E. Morris

MAJOR FARRAN'S HAT by DAVID CESARANI

13 April 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

As one who served in Palestine at the time of the events recorded in this book I found it well researched and on the whole fair, although rather biased towards the Jewish viewwpoint. I felt that Roy Farran's wartime career was not given its due credit. (Read Operation Tombola for instance)
What I found particularly intesting was the ramifications, political and terrorist, in Europe and in England,as those serving in Palestine had little acces to media reports from England. Infomative and interesting. CLEVELAND

3 people found this helpful

Comment

29 September 2013

Format: Hardcover

Was looking forward to reading this book but was very disappointed. The writer obviously has an axe to grind and used emotive language when it was unnecessary. The narrative of the story would have sufficed to have condemned Farran but the writer puts the boot in time and again. I honestly thought the writer was related to the murdered boy.

Some interesting background to the crisis. The writer mentions without any moral judgement that Stern approached the Nazis against Britain! He says Bevin exaggerated the US Israeli lobby but later says that Truman promoted for domestic votes Jewish immigration to Palestine.

Has a dig at Farran's "deep and primitive" Catholic faith and also how he shot Germans in Crete during a savage battle. Farran is pitiless to his enemies. At least he didn't hang them or booby trap them I suppose. Also Farran has a blatant disregard for the law. Hello David, Palestine was pretty lawless at the time.

To ensure the reader is unsure if Farran is a bad egg the fact that he has £100 when he escaped was a "hint that he was not quite as innocent as he pretended to be". It's just relentless. He also has a low dig against Farran saying he didn't fight the Nazis to stop the Holocaust and couldn't have cared less for the Jews. Farran's legal team is described as "pushy". He has "powerful friends in London". On verdict Farran's mother shows "cloyingly sentimental expressions of relief". Newspapers who agree with verdict are "jingoistic". He got it dead right about Browning, one of the most slippery and incompetent senior officers in the Army at that time.

The sergeants killings and King David hotel bombing are passed over quite quickly, the riots are dragged out like Kristallnacht. Even equates the riots against Jewish community like blaming the Christian community for the Nazi atrocities! Didn't know the Nazis were particularly Christian.

The writer concludes with a condemnation of Britain's anti-terror campaigns, particularly that strange title "shoot to kill". The fact that the Israeli armed forces use similar tactics goes unmentioned. I have to say that the photographs of the Farran case dominating the front pages of the Daily Express were interesting. Searched in vain for references to Princess Diana but suppose that was yet to come.

One person found this helpful

Comment

25 July 2011

Format: Hardcover

I was disappointed in this book. It is very good at painting the general background to this very controversial episode but there appear to a lot of assumptions made in the book where no reference is made to the evidence from which these assumptions must spring. Ultimately, I am no more knowledgable about whether Roy Farren actually committed the alleged murder. The actual evidence that is quoted is extremely sketchy and could not support a conviction in any court but the author talks of Farren as being a murderer and refers to documents he has not seen (because they have been destroyed) in support of this conclusion. I would have hoped an academic would have based any conclusion on clearly established evidence, rather than hearsay, speculation and propaganda from the protagonists.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Mr. J. P. Farrar

Hat's off to Mr. Cesarini's book

31 May 2009

Format: Hardcover

David Cesarini has crafted a book that holds the reader's interest on many levels - political thriller, courtroom drama, human interest and well referenced historical expose based on the latest documents made available for research. Getting to grips with Farran's character and settling on any kind of moral judgement is one of the challenges that real history keeps throwing up. I kept getting the feeling that had this capable young man arrived in Palestine 10 years earlier he could well have been sharing street names in Jerusalem alongside Orde Wingate and the tragic Rubowitz. Of course anything to do with terrorism and how it is policed is highly relevant to today and part of the author's analysis looks at how policy in Palestine shaped Britain and the West's response to insurgency throughout the 20th century and beyond. Cesarini draws his own conclusions on its effectivness in the closing chapter of the book. Whether or not you agree with them (and I am not sure that I do) is something you will have to decide for yourself when you read the book!

Best of British to the veteran reviewer above. If he (and I assume it is a 'he') would like to read, what I think, is a more sympathetic view of the British Mandate in Palestine he should try 'One Palestine Complete' by Tom Segev. In fairness to Mr. Cessarini, however, I don't think the Farran affair constituted our finest hour and the book does not set out to present an assesment of the rights and wrongs of British policy in its entirty.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Where's My Stuff?

track your recent orders
view or change your orders in Your Account

Delivery and Returns

see our delivery rates and policies
thinking of returning an item? (See our Returns Policy)

Need Help?

Forgot your password?
Buy Gift Cards.
still have questions? Visit our Help Pages

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	AbeBooks Books, art & collectables	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Download Audiobooks	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	DPReview Digital Photography	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations

Home Services Handpicked Professionals Happiness Guarantee	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Junglee.com Shop Online in India	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital Publishing Made Easy

Prime Now 2-Hour Delivery on Everyday Essentials	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Yoyo.com A Happy Place To Shop For Toys	Souq.com Shop Online in the Middle East

Warehouse Deals Deep Discounts Open-Box Products	Amazon Business Service for business customers	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food