Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Search for Peace in the Middle East, February 22, 2000
This accurate and concise chronology of events includes the texts of basic documents. It is an invaluable, in fact nearly indispensable reference for those interested in the history of Israel and relations between Israel and her Arab neighbors. Note that the Third Edition was released in 1998. A Fourth Edition covering the last two years of the Netanyahu period and the efforts at progress under Barak will be welcome indeed.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A useful, fair-minded reference., September 20, 2002
If you want clarity, balance, and documentation on the Arab-Israeli conflict during the 20th Century, this is a very useful resource. It contains dozens of documents from both sides and the middle: the speeches of political leaders, peace treaties, letters, political declarations, UN agreements. If you want numbers -- population figures, finances, maps,-- and words from the mouths of the chief statesmen, along with a systematic if somewhat dry narrative of the political events that have shaped modern ME history, this book gives a very good overview. I have found it extermely useful in discussing the subject with friends. If, however, you're looking for Lawrence of Arabia, as some of the reviewers below appear to have been, well, there's always Hollywood video.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Most even-handed book on the conflict I've read, August 25, 2003
By A Customer
I have read a few books on the Arab-Israeli conflict (and skimmed many more), and was pleasantly surprised at this one. Most books on this subject are clearly biased one way or the other and ridden with propaganda. I found this book to be one of the few (if not the only) that was balanced and gave equal time to both sides. Neither side is potrayed as innocent victims (because neither side in this conflict is innocent), nor is either side portrayed as bloodthirsty demons. Believe me, if you've spent any time looking at books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, you will know that this is truly rare. There is an abundance of primary source material included, which many books do not provide. Overall I found the book to indeed be concise (as the title claims), informational, and easy to read. This would be an excellent background book for anyone who knows nothing about the conflict in the Middle East and would like to learn more without being fed huge amounts of propaganda by either side. Anyone who already knows a great deal about the history of the area would probably be bored by this book, because it doesn't offer a great deal of analysis or theory, just information.
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