Israel at Sixty: An Oral History of a Nation Reborn Hardcover - 2008

From the jacket flap

What could celebrate Israel's sixtieth anniversary more aptly than a stirring history of the nation told by the people who lived it? Based on extensive interviews, Israel at Sixty presents a balanced, comprehensive account of this complex and amazing land. It re-creates historic events from the actions of Israel's founding visionaries through the ravages of six wars with its Arab neighbors to its growing strength and international stature and efforts to make permanent peace with its adversaries.

This compelling account begins with that overwhelming moment on May 14, 1948, when David Ben-Gurion rose in the Tel Aviv Opera House to read the Proclamation of Independence of the New Jewish State, to be known as Israel. A flashback to the hopeful and bitter first half of the twentieth century reveals little-known examples of the Zionist spirit of sabras, the ingathered exiles, and Diaspora Jews.

Dan Pattir tells the story of how his parents met when his father rushed to help defend an embattled village from Arab attack in 1929; Yehuda Avner explains how his Zionism, already strong, reached even higher levels when he helped care for child Holocaust survivors in Manchester, England, just after the war; and Joshua Matza recalls his adventures as a fourteen-year-old member of the underground, fighting the British. Holocaust survivors tell harrowing tales of persecution, heart-wrenching loss, soul-searing displacement, and the eventual exhilaration and triumph of their arrival in Israel.

More history comes to life as Israel's first citizens fight off Arab attacks, define modern Israeli culture, find ways to absorb hundreds of thousands of Diaspora Jews flocking to their shores, and build a strong, democratic government. From the bustling streets of Tel Aviv to the quiet communal life of the kibbutz, you will watch as the nation grows, struggles, triumphs, celebrates, and moves on to greater struggles.

Along the way, you will meet such memorable figures as Menachem Begin, Golda Meir, and Yitzhak Rabin through the eyes of those who knew and worked with them. You will relive the stunning victories of the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War; the thrilling hopes generated by the Camp David and Oslo accords; and the grim realities of terrorist attacks, intifada, and the continued refusal of Arab extremists to acknowledge Israel's right to exist.

Complete with more than fifty previously unpublished photos, Israel at Sixty is a beautiful keepsake for anyone who loves, respects, and supports the Jewish state.

Media reviews

Citations

• Booklist, 01/01/2008, Page 37
• Publishers Weekly, 12/10/2007, Page 48
• Reference and Research Bk News, 08/01/2008, Page 54