Title: Israel : a history /
Authors: Gilbert, Martin, 1936-2015.
Publisher: Black Swan,
Year: 2008
Subjects: Jews Palestine History; Arab-Israeli conflict.; Israel History
Abstract: "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. ..."--Back cover.
Contents: Preface to 60th anniversary edition -- Introduction -- 1. Ideals of statehood -- 2. Towards Zion -- 3. Beyond the Balfour Declaration, 1918-1929 -- 4. Threats and dangers, 1929-1937 -- 5. Hopes ... and blows, 1937-1939 -- 6. The Second World War, 1939-1945 -- 7. The British Mandate continues, 1945-1946 -- 8. Year of decision, 1947 -- 9. Undeclared war, November 1947 -- April 1948 -- 10. The conflict intensifies, April-May 1948 -- 11. The war of independence, May 1948 to the first truce -- 12. From the first truce to the second truce -- 13. From the second truce to the armistice agreements -- 14. The last four months of the war -- 15. The ingathering of the exiles -- 16. Conflicts and achievements, 1952-1955 -- 17. Paths to war, December 1955 -- October 1956 -- 18. The Sinai campaign -- 19. A state in being, 1956-1963 -- 20. Years of growth, 1963-1966 -- 21. [Gamal Abdel] Nasser's challenge -- 22. The Six Day War -- 23. The dilemmas of victory -- 24. The October war, Yom Kippur 1973 -- 25. The fourth postwar era -- 26. To the Lebanese war and beyond -- 27. Antifada -- 28. Towards Madrid and Oslo -- 29. The peace process -- 30. 'Shalom. haver' -- 'Peace my friend' -- 31. Conflict and conciliation -- 32. 'Permit me to be a dreamer' -- Epilogue.