Description
Israel is a small and relatively young country, but since the day of its creation sixty years ago, its turbulent history has placed it at the centre of the world stage. In this new edition of Israel: A History?revised and including two new chapters to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the state?s creation?Sir Martin Gilbert traces Israel?s history from the struggles of its pioneers in the nineteenth century to the present day. Along the way, he describes the defining moments in the history of the Jewish people, among them the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the United Nations Partition Resolution of 1947, and the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
The desire for statehood long preceded the declaration of the State; for two millennia the Jews, dispersed all over the world, prayed for a return to Zion. The prayer ?Next Year in Jerusalem? seemed a fantasy, until Theodor Herzl, in the last decade of the nineteenth century, transformed Zionism into a modern political movement. Soon the earlier trickle of Jewish immigrants turned into a flood as Jews sought fulfillment of their national aspirations or fled persecution in Europe.
The declaration of Statehood in May 1948 and the War of Independence were only the beginning of the drama. Israel?s subsequent development was dominated by the conflicts of Suez, the Six Day War, the October War, the Lebanon War, and the Intifada, as well as by diplomatic watersheds?from the early armistice agreements to the Camp David negotiations, the Madrid conference, and the Oslo peace process. Guiding us through the events that have shaped modern-day Israel, Gilbert examines not only Israel?s political history and personalities from Ben-Gurion to Rabin, Peres, and Netanyahu, but also its society, culture, and economy.
