A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel [Paperback]

Walter Laqueur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 20, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0805211497 | ISBN-13: 978-0805211498

From one of the most distinguished historians of our time comes the definitive general history of the Zionist movement.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Schocken (May 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805211497
• ISBN-13: 978-0805211498
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.4 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I was looking for, July 26, 2007

By 

Matthew Smith "Roger Mexico" (TN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel (Paperback)

When I came upon this book I was searching for a definitive history of Zionism. I had read current histories on Israel and the Middle East, but I didn't have a deep understanding of where Zionism came from nor its philosophical impetus. I was looking for a book that would give me an unbiased account of where and why Zionism came to be, and in this one book I found it.

Mr. Laqueur gives a detailed and clinical look into this phenomenon from its inauspicious beginnings to its improbable statehood and the many twists and turns in between. How he was able to go through and gather so much information on a movement that was so spread out and splintered between many different ideologies and theories is beyond me. He has assembled a wealth of information and presented it fairly and evenly.

Zionism is a movement unprecedented in history and the affects of this movement are still being felt today. It seems that everyone has an opinion about Zionism, but it is important to have a deep understanding of where this movement came from before one can have an accurate picture of where it is now and why it has become what is. The more people understand about that past the more clearly they will see the present. This is an important book that needs to be read.

25 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Broad Look at a Unique Movement, August 22, 2004

By 

Henry Oliner (Macon, GA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel (Paperback)

I do not know where else in history that we have a people disposed from a land for two thousand years, scattered all over the world, who reconvene through an international movement and regain their homeland. I also can not recall any group suffering the violent and irrational hatred of so many nations as the Jews have.

Lacqueur's history traces this unique movement. It's success was very fragile; the many decisions from world leaders could have gone much differently if made a few years sooner or later. Jews did not initially support it broadly; many prefered assimilation to their country of birth and some felt that the growing socialist movement provided a better answer to anti-Semitism. Even within the Zionist movement political infighting was strong.

Yet the worst fears of those seeking a refuge from growing European anti-Semitism did not forsee the scope of the Holocaust, exterminating 6 out of 7 Jews in Europe. This emboldened the survivors and motivated just barely enough world sympathy to formulate the creation of the Jewish state.

The reaction of the Arabs was neither surprising or unique in the course of developing nations. Lacqueur has the advantage of hindsight to examine policy mistakes and examine how it could have been different, but concludes the difficulty would have remained regardless.

This examination shows Zionism not as a righteous holy ordained movement, nor is it a an evil racist colonial movement as the modern Arab media prefers to portray it. It was a politically and diplomatically unique solution to a very serious and unique problem.

That the success of the Zionist enterprise has not yet yielded the peace they so desperately seek, makes this work only an introduction, but a valuable source to those seeking to understand the volatile Middle Middle East of the 21st century. There are many more chapters to be written.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat old in its orientation and sources, but..., May 19, 2009

By 

Eric Maroney (Trumansburg, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel (Paperback)

A History of Zionism is still a well written, thoroughly researched book. Laqueur explores the roots of Zionism in the French Revolution right through to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. One of the great strengths of the work is that Laqueur explains in detail the political factions and in-fighting in the Zionist congresses, exposing the reader to men who have been all but forgotten to history. On the negative side, the work places too far an emphasis on Zionist activity in the Diaspora, and not enough in Palestine. Laqueur's work also suffers from the use of old sources (the youngest from the 1960s). His work is not informed by the more recent writings of the so-called post-Zionist school of historiography. When Laqueur quotes Ben Gurion, for instance, it is from official sources, and does not plumb the depths of Ben Gurion's complex and sometimes doubled sided motivations. The work also treats Zionism like a faltering child, which right up until the establishment of the State of Israel was about to keel over. This may or may not be true, but this overall stance informs the book deeply, and for a reader that does not agree with this, it can be a fatal flaw.