Présentation de l'éditeur
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.
Revue de presse
"Rich in detail...a grand, heroic narrative." (
The Times Literary Supplement)
"Martin Gilbert has left us in his debt, not only for a superlative history of Israel, but also for a restatement of the classic vision of Zion, in which a Middle East without guns is not a bedtime story but an imperative long overdue. This is the vision for which Yitzhak Rabin gave his life. This book is tribute to his memory." (Jonathan Sacks
The Times)
"The most comprehensive account of Israeli history yet published." (Efraim Karsh
Sunday Telegraph)
"Not just an invaluable piece of historical research, it is also a joy to read...Required reading for anyone who wants to understand that most extraordinary and perplexing country." (
Jewish Chronicle)
Quatrième de couverture
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.
Biographie de l'auteur
Sir Martin Gilbert is Winston Churchill's official biographer, and one of Britain's leading historians. His The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy is considered the classic work on the subject, and he is the author of more than sixty other books, including Churchill: A Life, First World War, Second World War, Israel: A History, A History of the Twentieth Century and The Righteous. He lives in London.
