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

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If you must read only one book on Zionism, let this be it. Walter Laqueur, internationally renowned historian, has created a masterpiece that has stood the test of time (it was originally written over 30 years ago!), and has become one of the standard works on the subject, alongside Shlomo Avineri's The Making of Modern Zionism and Hertzberg's The Zionist Idea.

The book is exactly what it says it is-a history of Zionism from the French Revolution to the establishment of the State of Israel, making use of a wide range of primary and secondary sources in various languages.

Laqueur gives a rich and penetrating description of the Jewish communities in both Western and Eastern Europe, describing the various forces that tugged at the Jews during this period - anti-semitism, an increased desire to assimilate on the one hand and a growing sense of self-pride in Jewish heritage on the other. It was against this background that Zionism burst onto the scene in the late 19th century.

Laqueur gives an interesting, at times funny and at times tragic, of the Zionist movement and its members as they struggled to achieve their goals of Jewish self-determination in the former Land of Israel against great odds, sometimes achieving great success (the Balfour Declaration), and sometimes facing disasterous crises (the Holocaust and the destruction of European Jewry). Laqueur demonstrates that all this was done while the Zionists were a minority, with a largely indifferent and even hostile Jewish community in some countries (especially in Britain and Germany, although they enjoyed widespread support in Eastern Europe), refusing to foot the bill for what seemed a fantastic project at the time.

The book is divided into three sections-the first describing the background to the appearance of the Zionist movement and its activities until between the two World Wars.

The second section gives a description of both the various trends in the Zionist movement (Revisionist and Socialist), as well as the obstacles they faced, such as Arab opposition to Zionism (in the chapter 'The Unseen Question') as well as those who objected to Zionism in principle, and forsaw a different future for the Jews and saw Zionism as hampering it.

The third section covers the rest of the story, as it were, until the establishment of the state.

In sum, this book is an informative, well-written and fair-minded work on a sensitive subject, written by a master scholar.

I highly recommend it.

As one of the century's great historians, how fortunate we are that the German-born Laqueur spent his formative scholarly years in Eretz Israel as a journalist and researcher. This landmark work is very sympathetic to religious Orthodoxy and its significant relationship in the evolution of modern political Zionism. Its strength is in the study of religious and political Zionism within the European milieu.

Laquer's History of Zionism is an indispensable work about the origins of the Jewish state. Wherever you stand on Israel, here is a thought provoking and well-researched text that is definitive on the subject. If you are someone who dislikes Israel, you should at least read it to understand how Israel developed and learn about Zionist self-perception.

This book is one of the most comprehensive, balanced, objective pieces of literature I have ever read on any piece of history in my entire life. It is a shame that this book has not been more on the forefront for must reads on this piece of history. As a history buff on this topic and Middle Eastern history, it can often become frustrating to read any book on the subject due to the obvious partiality. Despite its lengty nature, 600 packed pgs, I feel reinvigorated. I highly recommend this and consider this a first stop must-read on this segment of history.

Walter Zeev Laqueur (born 1921) is a Jewish American historian and political commentator. He has written many books, such as The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, 7th Edition, The Terrible Secret: Suppression of the Truth About Hitler's "Final Solution", The New Terrorism : Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction, Fascism: Past, Present, Future, etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1972 book, "This volume ... is the first comprehensive history in English on a comparable scale... It was my intention to provide a truthful account of the origins and development of one of the most embattled movements in recent history... I have not tried to disguise my own position and am aware that others may not necessarily share my views. It is, I believe, a truthful account... I have tried to discuss dispassionately views which are not my own and actions which I deplore."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"The sad truth which most defenders of traditional Judaism have always been reluctant to face was that it had become meaningless for many people... many educated Jews no longer felt any obligation, moral or other, to their community." (Pg. 17)
"Ahad Ha'am was equally critical of Herzl and political Zionism; it pretended to bring the Jewish people back to Judaism, but in fact ignored all the basic questions of Jewish culture, of its language and literature, of education and the diffusion of Jewish knowledge." (Pg. 163)
"The Zionists certainly paid little attention to the first stirrings of the Arab national movement and few envisaged the possibility of a clash of national interests. But they did of course know that several hundred thousand Arabs lived in Palestine and that these constituted the majority of the local population." (Pg. 210)
"There were individual Arab notables, but there was no Arab political leadership in Palestine, certainly not before 1908." (Pg. 218)
"Zionist leaders... were firmly convinced that the broad masses of the Arab population had no real interset in politics, that their main concern was to improve their standard of living... The Zionist leaders were forever seeing a hidden hand behind the anti-Zionist movement." (Pg. 247)
"Yet when all was said and done, there was still the obligation in the Bible to settle in Palestine, and the issue continued to trouble the orthodox camp." (Pg. 408)
"The upshot was that in the years when European Jewry needed Palestine most its gates were gradually closed." (Pg. 509)

The History of Zionism is an incredible book. It begins with an overview of the situation for Jews in Europe in the mid 1800's (to set the stage) and then proceeds to inform us about early Zionism and then later Zionist thinkers and movements. It is easy to read and interesting to read, but is scholarly at the same time. I highly recommend this book!