A History of Modern Israel - Hardcover

'Colin Shindler's history of Israel is a major contribution to our understanding of the country and the turbulent area in which it is situated. It is scrupulously balanced and thoroughly researched. In sharp contrast to much current discussion of the Middle East, Shindler's study cuts through the slogans and propaganda that have come to shape debate on both sides to offer clear and compelling insight into Israel's development. We are all in his debt.' Professor Shalom Lappin, King's College London

'Colin Shindler's outstanding book is a model of judicious scholarship. It is so comprehensive, it will transform our understanding of the history of the entire Middle East.' Anthony Julius, Birckbeck College, London University and Mishcon de Reya

'Colin Shindler understands Israel from the inside. There are few who can tell the complex story of Israel's sixty years with such clarity and such depth. This is a remarkable work.' Professor Tudor Parfitt, SOAS, University of London

'Comprehensive, lucid, and full of insights; this is a book that will reward each reader with its wisdom and balance.' Sir Martin Gilbert

'A History of Modern Israel is a lucid and timely account and certainly appropriate reading at this moment of the 60th anniversary.' Jewish Chronicle

'Meticulously researched and with just the amount of detail necessary to understand the complex nature of Israel's, sometimes generous sometimes stuttering, search for a modus vivendi with the Palestinians, Shindler works his way inexorably to his closing thought that the path to peace has yet to be found, let alone even part travelled ... Everything of significance is here in vivid detail ... a highly commended and timely history of modern Israel.' Jewish Renaissance

'... thorough, clear-headed and fair-minded ... Shindler gives admirably fair-minded attend to Palestinian nationalists movements and ideas ... Shindler's calm compassion, breadth of knowledge and sympathy, and zealous striving for balance, deserves great praise.' The Independent

'In a magnificent study that retells the country's national story, Shindler focuses on how the developing Jewish state has been unable to fulfill its purpose primarily because of its ongoing dispute with the Palestinians. This is a powerful and original book that puts readers in touch with the visionary power of the past and with the struggle to make Zionist dreams real without turning them into instruments of political manipulation.' Democratiya

'... as a chronicler of missed opportunities, wrong turnings and might-have-been moments, it provides a blow-by-blow account ... an important voice at this time and worth consulting.' Chartist

'The ups and downs of Israeli democracy over the past 60 years are chronicled in Colin Shindler's readable, comprehensive but concise A History of Modern Israel ... Shindler's book ... will set the standard for some time for excellent scholarship shedding light on Israel's history, both bright and dark sides.' The Australian

The state of Israel came into existence in 1948. Colin Shindler's book traces Israel's history across sixty years, from its optimistic beginnings - immigration, settlement, the creation of its towns and institutions - through the wars with its Arab neighbours, and the confrontation with the Palestinians. Shindler paints a broad canvas which affords unusual insights into this multicultural society, forged from over a hundred different Jewish communities and united by a common history. Despite these commonalities, however, Israel in the twenty-first century is riven by ideological disputes and different interpretations of 'Jewishness' and Judaism. Nowhere are these divisions more revealingly portrayed than in the lives and ideologies of Israel's leaders. Biographical portraits of Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime-minister, Yitzhak Rabin, whose assassination is still a traumatic memory for many Israelis, and the controversial Ariel Sharon, offer fascinating examinations of those who have led the country to where it is today.