In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea - Hardcover

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Michael Brenner is the Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies and director of the Center for Israel Studies at American University and Professor of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. His many books include A Short History of the Jews (Princeton).

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"Michael Brenner is one of the leading authorities on the history of Zionism in the twentieth century, and this book is a must-read for everyone who is interested in the subject."--Walter Laqueur, author of A History of Zionism

"There are excellent histories of both Zionism and the state of Israel, but Michael Brenner has managed to combine the two subjects in a single volume that takes the reader from the original vision of Theodor Herzl to the present. This is an authoritative account of a complex and absorbing story."--Itamar Rabinovich, president of The Israel Institute and Israel's former ambassador to the United States

"Since the birth of political Zionism, the idea of Israel has oscillated between the Jewish millenarian quest for normalcy' and the claim of uniqueness of a people with a universal mission. Michael Brenner s elegant study is a compelling voyage into this fascinating contradiction. This absorbing book also sheds much-needed scholarly light on the heated debate between those for whom Israel is an inspiring dream come true and her growing army of detractors."--Shlomo Ben Ami, vice-president of the Toledo International Center for Peace and former foreign minister of Israel

"Elegant and accessible, In Search of Israel is a beautifully crafted exploration of the tensions within the Zionist project between Israel's strivings for normality and its ongoing sense of exceptionalism. Michael Brenner treats a highly contentious subject with grace and tact."--Derek Penslar, Harvard University

"The story of the very different visions for a Jewish homeland, and how they played out in theory and practice, is extremely complex. Michael Brenner does an excellent job of making the various twists and turns of Israel's history intelligible, and he writes with considerable verve, irony, and even humor."--John Efron, University of California, Berkeley