Customer Reviews

The Palestine-Israel Conflict: A Basic Introduction, Second Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Harms and Ferry are to be congratulated on writing a book that concisely introduces a very complicated and controversial topic. The authors have skillfully put together a readable and brief account of the origins of the present conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Most readers (hopefully) will find it remarkably well-balanced and accurate, neither demonizing the Israelis nor the Muslims, but frankly stating that this is a disagreement with more modern roots in politics and a clash over land, rather than an ancient conflict of religion. Harms and Ferry have given us a good work to introduce prospective students or new initiates into a very important field of study. I highly recommend it.

I thought this book did an excellent job of covering all the major events pertinent to this topic. It also gave a sense of the timeline. I thought the coverage was even-handed and reasonably objective. For someone looking for an introduction to this topic, or maybe just a single book that will give one an overall sense of things, this seems ideal.
I defintely recommend this book.

This is one of the most honest and informative books, I have read about the subject. No biased opinions, just facts and fair introduction. Easy to read ant to undrestand also for people, who have a very little backround information.

I reckon this is about as even-handed an account of this complex problem as you are going to find.

With plenty of external references, this book is easy to read and delivers what it promises - a basic introduction.

I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to pick up a basic understanding of why these two peoples have been unable to find a lasting peace.

Despite a weak and unconvincing argument about the origin of the Israelis, and despite glossing over some important pieces of history (which, in fairness was intended since this was designed to be a compact history), this is absolutely and umistakably the clearest and fairest treatment of this subject I have read. While I believe the authors could have better chosen the areas to abbreviate since some key moments of the history of the region are left decidedly unclear, they did an excellent job of covering the history in about 200 pages.

I got this book because the Palestine-Israel conflict is always in the news, and yet I knew almost nothing about it. I thought I knew where my sympathies lie, but I did not know the origins or the historical context. After reading this book, I know much, much more than I did before. The context, the history, important names and dates -- these are all covered in. I am in the process of doing additional reading now because this book really is just an overview, but it was a great place to start.

I would say the book is balanced and neutral, at least as much as it is possible to be about such a charged subject, and certainly more so than many other books. It is short, but it packs a lot of information into the pages. Finally, it is well written -- it is not dry or boring. I highly recommend it to those who, like me, know little or nothing about the conflict.

This is a well-written, concise, and unbiased overview of a complex situation. It's a quick enjoyable read and written in a very accessible style. I've read it at least three times. I've given it away to several friends and am always buying new copies. Why? I'm passionate about this topic and while people who agree with me do not hate this book, they are not excited about it either. That tells me it's right on the mark.

I've written few Amazon reviews, but felt compelled to recommend this excellent book.

Harms and Ferry,

Thank you so much for puting an amazing book together and for your hard work. It was very easy to follow the timeline and understand the roots of the both civilizations, why and when the conflict started,the super powers have been involved and current policy updates.

I will suggest this book to many of my friends that have no clue what is really going on in Palestine or don't have enough time to go through pages of information and make a long research. I have much better understanding of the real reasons for the conflict.

It is really a great book!!!
Thanks again
Erinch

I bought this book because my husband and I are going to Israel for the first time with a church group. I have to admit that I am very ignorant when he comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the reasons for the continued unrest throughout the area. I wanted to at least have a basic knowledge of the history and geography of the region. This was a perfect book for my purposes. It is concise, easy to read, uses laymen's terms, and gives an excellent overview without the "boredom" of a textbook. I feel that I can visit Israel now with at least a general knowledge of what I'm seeing and experiencing. This book is an excellent choice as an initial study of the Palestine-Israel issue.

I was looking for a clear and objective explanation on the Palestinian-Isreali conflict including the history from the beginning of how it all got started. This book gave me new insight into all of it. While there were a few instances that the authors did make a judgemental statement for the most part they presented the facts without making editorial comment. The book is not long or laborious to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the basics regarding this conflict.