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The Invention of the Land of Israel: From Holy Land to Homeland Hardcover – November 20, 2012

by Shlomo Sand (Author), Geremy Forman (Translator)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 235 ratings
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What is a homeland and when does it become a national territory? Why have so many people been willing to die for such places throughout the twentieth century? What is the essence of the Promised Land? Following the acclaimed and controversial The Invention of the Jewish People, Shlomo Sand examines the mysterious sacred land that has become the site of the longest-running national struggle of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The Invention of the Land of Israel deconstructs the age-old legends surrounding the Holy Land and the prejudices that continue to suffocate it. Sand’s account dissects the concept of “historical right” and tracks the creation of the modern concept of the “Land of Israel” by nineteenth-century Evangelical Protestants and Jewish Zionists. This invention, he argues, not only facilitated the colonization of the Middle East and the establishment of the State of Israel; it is also threatening the existence of the Jewish state today.
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  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Verso
  4. Publication date
    November 20, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    6.31 x 1.09 x 9.46 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1844679462
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1844679461
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
235 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book enlightening and well-researched. They describe it as brilliant, enjoyable to read, and a must-have for understanding the truth. However, opinions differ on the readableness - some find the writing excellent and separates myth from reality, while others feel the author's English is poor.

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EnlightenednessReading qualityReadableness
21 customers mention "Enlightenedness"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enlightening and interesting. They say it's well-researched and a must-read for understanding the truth about Jewish and Israeli history. The book provides an excellent review of historical facts that are rarely addressed and even made taboo to be discussed. Readers say it helps them distinguish between myths and facts.

"...and outspoken professor, Shlomo Sand does it again with this enlightening and educational book that reveals the history behind the Land of Israel...." Read more

"...a broader understanding of the issues, a more empathic understanding of the complexities of the situation and, perhaps, a renewed understanding of..." Read more

"...IT really opens up the mind and helps in seeing this part of the world in a different light...." Read more

"...His writing separates the myth from the reality, giving an accurate historical perspective." Read more

7 customers mention "Reading quality"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book brilliant and interesting. They appreciate the excellent citations and the writer's prose.

"...2. As candid and forthright a book as you will find. Professor Sand provides solid and well-cited evidence in support of his arguments. 3...." Read more

"...Mr. Sand is an excellent writer and it is a joy to read his prose. He does not make blanket statements without backing them up with scholarly facts...." Read more

"Good book" Read more

"A brave a brilliant book, that shows that the Jews have not the moral, and religion right to install the State of Israel, at a land that do not..." Read more

8 customers mention "Readableness"5 positive3 negative

Customers have different views on the book's readableness. Some find it well-written and enjoyable to read, providing an accurate historical perspective. Others mention issues with the author's poor command of English and lack of visual aids.

"...The quest for primary sources. The author does a good job of letting the readers know what he does have a good handle on and what he doesn't...." Read more

"Just an incredible book. Mr. Sand is an excellent writer and it is a joy to read his prose...." Read more

"I could not read beyond page 12 due to the terrible writing. Within these 12 pages I found impossible sentences of 63, 74 and 61 words...." Read more

"...His writing separates the myth from the reality, giving an accurate historical perspective." Read more

Damaged
4 out of 5 stars
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The package got here quick but there is some damage to the back side of the book. Unfortunately too late to try to return or replace it since Christmas is in a week
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Book Shark
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Complement!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    The Invention of the Land of Israel by Shlomo Sand

    "The Invention of the Land of Israel" is the follow up to the fascinating and controversial "The Invention of the Jewish People". This excellent book serves as a complementary addition to the aforementioned book and fills gaps left behind. Historian and outspoken professor, Shlomo Sand does it again with this enlightening and educational book that reveals the history behind the Land of Israel. This 304-page book is composed of the following five chapters: 1. Making Homelands: Biological Imperative or National Property?, 2. Mytherritory: In the Beginning, God Promised the Land, 3. Toward a Christian Zionism: and Balfour Promised the Land, 4. Zionism Versus Judaism: The Conquest of "Ethnic" Space, and 5. Conclusion: The Sad Tale of the Frog and the Scorpion.

    Positives:
    1. A well-researched and well-cited book that takes you into the always fascinating world of Jewish history.
    2. As candid and forthright a book as you will find. Professor Sand provides solid and well-cited evidence in support of his arguments.
    3. Enlightening and thought-provoking book to say the least.
    4. An excellent complement to his best-selling book "The Invention of the Jewish People".
    5. The myth that was the forced uprooting of the "Jewish people."
    6. The book does a wonderful job of explaining how the dissemination of a formative historical mythos occurred. "Never did I accept the idea of the Jews' historical rights to the Promised Land as self-evident."
    7. Clarifies some of the misunderstood points made in his previous book.
    8. Professor Sand takes pride in his historical scholarship and it shows. The quest for primary sources. The author does a good job of letting the readers know what he does have a good handle on and what he doesn't.
    9. Explains what really precipitated the establishment of the State of Israel.
    10. The book achieves its goal of tracing the ways in which the "Land of Israel" was invented.
    11. The book achieves the main goal of disparaging the official historiography of the Zionist Israeli establishment.
    12. The notion of "homeland" in perspective. "It is important to remember that homelands did not produce nationalism, but rather the opposite: homelands emerged from nationalism." The concept of territorial entity.
    13. Was the Land of Israel the ancestral land of the descendants of the children of Israel? A biblical perspective...
    14. The great minds behind the Jewish connection with the Land of Israel. Fascinating history.
    15. The history of the three main revolts. Their causes and results.
    16. The factors that revitalized interest over the Holy Land for all three Abrahamic religions.
    17. The evolution of Zionism including the Christian variety. The colonization of the Middle East. The main players and factors involved. The Balfour Declaration.
    18. An interesting look at the Arab inhabitants of Palestine. The increasing use of the moral superweapon "historical right."
    19. A condensed history of the Diaspora. Zionism versus Judaism.
    20. The "redemption" of the land to "Judaization of the country". The 1947 resolution regarding the partition of Palestine. The acquisition of land. The three most significant moments in the long history of the occupations and the settlements in the occupied territories that most likely were decisive in shaping the future of Israel and its neighbors.
    21. An excellent final chapter that summarizes the main points of this interesting book.
    22. Excellent citations.

    Negatives:
    1. Lack of visual aids to assist the reader. As an example, maps would have added much value.
    2. The book at times is repetitive.
    3. No formal bibliography.
    4. A cast of characters, timelines, even glossaries would have immensely assisted an American audience that may not be familiar with this fascinating history.
    5. The book lacks panache. English is not the author's main language. This book is about substance over style.

    In summary, this is a fascinating and enlightening book. I really enjoyed it and I must thank the author for the education. Professor Sand succeeds in educating the reader on the history of the "Land of Israel". It's a great complement to his previous best-selling book. I highly recommend it!
    114 people found this helpful
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  • m
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sand's viewpoint well documented
    Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Sand makes very interesting, compelling arguments that enlarge one's understanding of a complex situation.
    He discusses Judaism as a religion and dismisses the notion of Jews as a "a people" by "blood" and categorizes Jews as simply those who belong to the Jewish religion. On that basis, why not give Catholics their own state, he reasons. But Jews are members not only of a religious group but of a cultural group, a wider and more inclusive definition than he allows. Just as Kurds want their own homeland or the Irish wanted their own state, so do the Jews. He counters that Jews were not struggling to repopulate Palestine until recently, that most Jews remained in the respective countries in which they were born, even despite persecution. And when they did move, they moved to neighboring states that welcomed them. However, that same thing was true of other persecuted minorities--they moved close by, they moved to areas where they could get work, where relatives already lived. People did not really set out for lands unknown until settlement in the New World, the Americas, began. Greater knowledge has made choices more available and understandable for many people now; these options didn't exist in a real and practical sense for the average household throughout most of European history.
    In short, Sands book(s) allow the reader to understand a perspective with which he may be unfamiliar; it allows the reader to evaluate his own positions more carefully and realize there are other, often diametrically opposed opinions, that have validity. The careful reader can come away from reading, I think, with a broader understanding of the issues, a more empathic understanding of the complexities of the situation and, perhaps, a renewed understanding of the basis of his own viewpoint . This book evokes a reasoned discussion with a scholar, not an exchange of slogans.
    28 people found this helpful
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  • CashL001
    4.0 out of 5 stars Damaged
    Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The package got here quick but there is some damage to the back side of the book. Unfortunately too late to try to return or replace it since Christmas is in a week
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    CashL001
    4.0 out of 5 stars Damaged
    Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2024
    The package got here quick but there is some damage to the back side of the book. Unfortunately too late to try to return or replace it since Christmas is in a week
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  • catprincess
    5.0 out of 5 stars Historical insights
    Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Just an incredible book. Mr. Sand is an excellent writer and it is a joy to read his prose. He does not make blanket statements without backing them up with scholarly facts. This is like a follow-up to his first book," The invention of the Jewish people". IT really opens up the mind and helps in seeing this part of the world in a different light. All his books should be required reading in academia with respects to world history.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • Evalyn F. Segal
    5.0 out of 5 stars I wish everyone interested in Palestine/Israel would read this
    Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This book is as good as Sand's first one, "The invention of the Jewish people." He demonstrates very convincingly that Jews never owned Palestine, not at any time in history, and consequently they have no right to advance a historical claim to it now. The people who lived there through the centuries were a mix of Hebrews who converted to Islam when the Arabs moved in, and Arabs, and some Hebrews and others who converted to Christianity and then some converted again to Islam and some remained Christians. If anyone has a claim to Palestine, it is the Palestinians who inhabited the land for centuries, some of whom are probably the descendents of some of the original Hebrews (although most of the Hebrews scattered throughout the Mediterranean in Roman times, according to Sand's first book).
    23 people found this helpful
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  • Peace
    5.0 out of 5 stars Look beyond the modern narrative
    Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Dr. Sands is a historian at Tel Aviv University in Israel. He is an Israeli who recognizes that the modern narrative being promoted and pushed concerning Israel is inaccurate and perhaps detrimental to the nation of Israel. He sees peace with the Palestinians as the only path that can secure Israel's future. His writing separates the myth from the reality, giving an accurate historical perspective.
    8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Dioniso
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfetto
    Reviewed in Italy on September 27, 2024
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    Perfetto
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  • K. Brothers
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for understanding the origins of "Israel"
    Reviewed in Canada on September 15, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Jewish Israeli historian Shlomo Sand's research into the origin of the concept of Israel as a Jewish homeland follows his research into the actual origin of (most of) the Jewish people today. These should be required reading for all those who are passionate about this issue.
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  • Helene Hanna
    5.0 out of 5 stars excellent livre
    Reviewed in France on September 15, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Enfin la vérité dite par un autochtone sur la réalité de cet état, On a souvent été bassonés de contre vérités, que le mérite de l'auteur s'en trouve décuplé et son courage aussi de contrer un courant dévastateur.
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  • Anorak44
    5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful demolition of the "mythos of a stolen land"
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This book is not the easiest of reads. It is densely academic in places, repetitive in others, and dwells for too long (chapter 1) on the theory of national homelands. But at its heart this book has a controversial truth which, on the basis of Professor Sand's compelling analysis, is difficult to dispute: that "the mythos of a wandering Jewish people that was uprooted from its homeland two thousand years ago...is based entirely on historical fabrications" (p255).

    One-by-one Sand demolishes the pillars upon which the "demon of mythic territoriality" has been built by modern-day Zionists. He notes the Zionists' misuse of the Bible as a "title deed for Palestine", the anachronistic use of the term Israel by Zionists (in fact the land was called Canaan and Jerusalem itself was in Judea), the opposition of most of the pre-1939 rabbinate to Zionism, and the fact that until the US and European nations closed their doors to Jewish immigration in the early 20th century, there were hardly any Jewish immigrants who actually wanted to move to "the land of Israel". This was because few saw it as their 'home'. Indeed, there were few Jews who even wished to make pilgrimage to the Holy Land; it was the Christians whose religious zeal caused them to flock to Jerusalem. The founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, would actually have been happy with Argentina or Uganda as a Jewish national home (p197). But the rise of 20th century nationalism combined with anti-Semitism in Europe and restrictive immigration policies in the US to create "a dangerous ethnoterritorial policy" (p252) which led to the creation of the state of Israel, the ethnic cleansing of over 700,000 Palestinians (which Professor Sand documents in a powerful Afterword section) and the brutality of occupation, dispossession and displacement.

    This book is not without its flaws (inexplicably, for a revisionist historian, Professor Sand seems to attribute no responsibility to Israel for the annexationist war in 1967), but even allowing for these, this is a powerful book which deserves a wide audience. The Zionists will condemn Professor Sand as a "self-hating Jew", but I doubt they will be able to counter his inexorable logic.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Open Your Eyes and Mind.
    Reviewed in Australia on August 27, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A "Must Read" book for everyone, especially the ones who turn blind eye to the politics of the Zionist..
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