Customer Reviews

History of Israel's War of Independence: History of the War of Independence, Vol. 1: A Nation Girds for War (Volume I)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Uri Milstein's History of the War of Independence (volumes 1-3 have been translated into English from Hebrew) reveals that while the Yishuv was prepared to defend itself against Arab riots and disturbances, the Hagana was forced to re-organize itself for conventional war even as the war was beginning. A reader can derive from this that the Yishuv won the war mainly because the Palestinian Arabs and Arab states were even less prepared and less organized than the Yishuv's military forces. Milstein explains that Ben-Gurion had expected to have another few years to train and arm the Yishuv before the war began, and had not wanted to rely on the Haganah (trying to set up a "shadow staff" of British-trained officers). Upon taking the defence portfolio, Ben-Gurion sought to come to an understanding of the Haganah's inner workings by conducting one-one-one interviews with Haganah leaders in a six-month "seminar." These books are very helpful for understanding the events of the war, Ben-Gurion's personality as a politician and military leader (strengths and weaknesses) and the relationship Ben-Gurion had with the Haganah and Palmah leaders. I would suggest that these books be read in conjunction with Benny Morris's "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem" and "Israel's Border Wars", Avi Shlaim's "Collusion Across the Jordan," and Tom Segev's "1949: The New Israelis."

This brilliantly researched piece is true history at its best. Meticulously well done it is the only good history of the 1948 war, a masterpiece that is unfortunately only half completed. It details struggles, debates, raids and ambushes in the most honest and fair manner, using concrete evidence without bias and without politics. This book should be required reading for the Israeli-Arab conflict, however it is often brushed over to more easy to read shorter histories of the 1948 war. However despite this many volumed length of the project this is a grasping and exciting read, drawing on military and political topics, discussing minorities and often unheard of events. All students of the middle east and Israel and military history will enjoy this.

Volume I looks into the history, the 1936 rebellion, the organizations, and of course most importantly the Haganah intelligence efforts. It also examines the role of Ben-Gurion as leaders.

Seth J. Frantzman

This volume tracks the history the hebrew yishuv (settlement) in Palestine from roughly the end of the First World War until the United Nations vote to partition the Holy Land into two states on November 29, 1947. Focusing mostly on the years during and immediately following the Second World War, Milstein thoroughly examines the many issues surrounding the founding the Jewish State: diplomatic relations with foreign powers, the yishuv's military and intelligence preparations, and relations with the region's Arabs. The overarching theme of this volume is the antagonistic relationship that developed between Jewish aspirations for an independent state and the British government, whose policy was to prevent such a state from coming into being.

Anyone who is interested in disabusing himself of the myth that Israel's "occupation" of eastern Palestine in 1967 is the source of the so-called Arab-Israeli conflict would do well to read this book, which documents the numerous Arab uprisings in the first half of the twentieth century against Jews living in Palestine under the British mandate. Based on interviews and other primary sources, this first volume amply documents that the Arab world--with the sole exception of the King of Jordan--was unwilling to accept a Jewish state of any size, and the impending withdrawal of the British imperium in Palestine made war inevitable.