Yitzhak Rabin: The Battle for Peace [Hardcover]

Linda Benedikt (Author)

Book Description

Series: H Books | Publication Date: December 29, 2005

Accessible biography about a topical historical figure

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda Benedikt is a journalist and writer. She has written on the subject of the Israeli-Palestine conflict for a variety of publications and has a Master in Israeli and Jewish Diaspora Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Haus Pub. (December 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190495006X
• ISBN-13: 978-1904950066
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,451,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very welcome surprise, August 25, 2008

By 

Matthew Smith "Roger Mexico" (TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yitzhak Rabin: The Battle for Peace (Hardcover)

While I found this book to be more of a short history of Israel that centers itself around Rabin, I still found this book to extraordinarily well balanced and just very good. I was extremely impressed by the amount and quality of information the author packed into such a small book.

I originally purchased this book as a compendium to Rabin's own memoirs. I wanted a different take on Rabin after I finished with his memoirs so that I could compare his words with those of another. I expected from the title of this book that it would be, on the whole, a rather positive and pro-Israeli account of his life, so I assumed I would get a work of little value other than as another person's perspective. Instead what I got was a very balanced look at Rabin and Israel. The author does a wonderful job detailing a complex man during a very complex time in Israeli history, and because she tackles the positives along side the negatives with the same vigor and detail the reader gets a much needed window into the accomplishments and failures of not only Rabin but Israel as well.

I found this book to be highly insightful, and her discussion of the political squabbles within labor to the dissension on the right and within the religious community goes along way in explaining why Israeli policy regarding issues such as the occupied territories was in actuality essentially nonexistent. The fact that some issues have had the potential of ripping Israeli society in half goes a long way in explaining why some of Israel's most pressing problems seemed to be left in the wind.

This is a wonderful book written by a brave individual. I say brave because anyone writing on Israel or Israeli figures has the potential of being attacked by one or the other side, but especially those authors who decide not to pander to either side and write a truly unbiased book have the possibility of being attacked by both sides. This author has written a book that is informative and balanced which is a rarity as regards this issue. Readers will do themselves a great service by giving this mighty, little book a go. I highly recommend this book to everyone.