The Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine 1921-1951 [Abridged] [Paperback]

Avi Shlaim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 1999 | ISBN-10: 019829459X | ISBN-13: 978-0198294597 | Edition: Abridged

In this reissue of the abridged paperback edition of his critically acclaimed Collusion Across the Jordan, Professor Shlaim chronicles King Abdullah's relationship with the Zionist movement from his appointment as Emir of Transjordan in 1921 to his assassination in 1951. With a new Introduction, placing the book in the wider context of the on-going debate about 1948, this masterly and authoritative study is essential reading for all those interested in the politics of the Middle East.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`offers a penetrating analysis of the Zionist/Israeli-Abdullah relationship, full of relevatons derived from Shlaim's extensive archival research and interviews with surviving political and miliatry fitures of the period ... lively recounting of secret correspondence and clandestine meetings ... Shlaim brings to life the day-to-day history of the pivotal period of Israel's birth' Neil Caplan, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol.36,No.2, 2001

About the Author

Avi Shlaim is at St Antony's College, Oxford.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Abridged edition (January 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019829459X
• ISBN-13: 978-0198294597
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > History > Middle East > Jordan

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent account of Jordan's formation, Abdullah & 1948, December 21, 2001

By 

Casey L. Minton "el caseman" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine 1921-1951 (Paperback)

While much maligned, Avi Shlaim writes an honest and cogent history of Abdullah, Jordan, British involvement in the Middle East and the conflict between Palestinians and Jews leading to 1948. His viewpoint, which many in the dwindling "Peace Now" movement share, needs to be understood. The history he writes is like nothing you will get reading mainstream writers like Bernard Lewis. Don't be scared away by those who say Shlaim's writings are "radical left-wing propaganda." It is nothing of the sort...simply an opinion based on what we should know any ethnic group is capable of doing to "others."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars King Abdulla was a Real Politician, December 12, 2005

By 

EgyptsFuture "Sadat" (Giza, Egypt) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine 1921-1951 (Paperback)

King Abdullah, the founder of Jordan, and son of Sherif Hussein, and grandfather of King Hussein, was a real Arab politician, that I believe Avi has given mostly the best of judgment.

I believe, that this man has found a school in Arab politics, and this school has breeded politicians like King Hussein and his son, King Abdullah, Presidents Sadat of Egypt, Burqeiba of Tunisia, and Kings Hassan of Morroco and his son Muhamed the 6th.

Political Realism mixed with all the prudence and wisdom, is what came out of those who have followed this school.

Avi, is a great writer of our times, and a good researcher, I love to read for. However, and like all of us, he has some bias while writting for the his country. However, this is difficult to get rid of, when you are talking about the Arab Israeli conflict, since it is a conflict that is so deep in this soil, that it is so difficult to get rid off.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books on early Zionist-Jordanian relations, April 24, 2000

By 

Daniel (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine 1921-1951 (Paperback)

I read the unabridged version of the Politics of Partition (called "Collusion Across the Jordan") and found it to be an excellent history. My only regret is that Shlaim didn't keep his original title. In reaction to an earlier review, Efraim Karsh's book "Fabricating Israeli History" DOES NOT disprove Shlaim's assertions at all. Karsh's problem is that he can't tolerate the facts that have been uncovered since Israel's thirty-year law made thousands (perhaps millions) of pertinent documents available. Anyone who reads both books will see that Karsh does not even begin to disprove the well-documented histories written by the revisionist Israeli historians (Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, Ilan Pappe, Uri Milstein, or Avner Cohen, to name some of the most prominent). I highly suggest Shlaim's book along with Benny Morris's book "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem" and "The Road Not Taken" by Itamar Rabinovich. These were some of the first books to reveal how Zionist leaders dealt pragmatically and forcefully with their Arab neighbors to create the new Jewish state.