1948

1948

The war over the foundation of the State of Israel was an extraordinarily complex event—both politically and militarily—and historians have traditionally had a difficult time putting its various elements in clear context for general readers and history buffs. This has been partly a result of the unavailability of numerous Israeli, Arab and Western records and documents. Recently, however, Israel and some Western nations have opened up their archives, allowing historians to clarify previously unanswerable questions. Benny Morris, one of Israel's leading “New Historians,” a grouping of scholars that has reshaped our understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict, has taken advantage of access to these new records and written an astonishingly detailed and engaging history of the violent foundation of Israel. 1948 serves as both a military and social history of the war. Morris begins, as they say, at the beginning—not during the few years leading up to the foundation of Israel, but rather the late 19th century, when Zionists of Europe, fleeing Russian pograms and fulfilling their stated destiny, began emigrating en masse to the “holy land.” At the time, the people now known as Palestinians had none of the sense of nationalism they do now. Their identity as a group lay in the fact that they were Muslims and lived under the Ottoman Empire. Zionists began purchasing more and more land and by 1914, nearly 50 settlements had been built, including the one that would grow into Tel Aviv. Tension built, and violent incidents began hitting the newspaper headlines worldwide. As these incidents grew, so did nationalistic fervor on both sides. By the beginning of WW I, the two sides had mostly shed their previous identities of Muslims and Zionists to become Palestinians and Jews. Morris provides a brilliant examination of the events leading up to the war and offers stunningly detailed and cohesive history of subsequent events. He stresses the jihadi character of the assault against Jews and clearly explains the roles played by Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union in shaping the conflict. Morris covers the military actions from both command and boots-on-the-ground perspectives, while placing all the action in political context. The founding of Israel is among the most critical events in modern political history. The conflict was “resolved” in 1949 under the Armistice Agreements, but the fight goes on. This groundbreaking history of the State of Israel's foundational war with its Arab enemies is the most thorough, original work on the subject to date. It is an ideal beginning for those new to the subject and an absolute necessity for serious students of modern Middle-Eastern history.

Hardcover: 544 pages

Publisher: Yale University Press ( April 01, 2008 )

Item #: 53-0569

ISBN: 9780300126969

Product Dimensions: 6.125 x 9.25 x 1.36 inches

Product Weight: 30.0 ounces