Last night I had an hour and a half to cover “Zionism and the Modern State of Israel” with the Introduction to the Jewish Experience class. As I told them at the beginning, there’s no way that that is enough time to even scratch the surface of such a complex and important topic. What I hoped they would take away was a single sentence, “It’s complicated.” I promised them a list for further reading, with my hope that they would avail themselves of at least one book on that list:
My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, by Ari Shavit. When I heard voices both on the right and on the left complaining that Shavit’s book was too far to the left and too far to the right, I suspected it might be a really good book. What makes it so good is that it is personal, teasing out individual stories that illuminate the complexities of the land and its people. It does not claim to be a scholarly work. Rather, it is a way to get to the emotions and human beings that too often get lost in talk about sides. Shavit is a journalist with HaAretz, the Israeli equivalent of the New York Times.
Israel is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and its History. By Rich Cohen. This is an informal history of Israel written by another journalist, this time, an American Jew who loves Israel. He makes a strong effort to be even-handed and mostly succeeds.
Israel: A History by Martin Gilbert. This is a more scholarly work on Israeli history, written from a secular Jewish point of view.
A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time by Howard M. Sachar. This is one of the histories of Israel you might read if you were taking a college class on the subject. Not for light reading, but very thorough.
The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, 7th Edition by Walter Laqueur. As one reviewer wrote, this book will either seem like the most wonderful resource you’ve ever seen on the subject, or it will cure your insomnia. The editor has made an effort to collect all the documents you might ever need to see about the Israeli-Arab conflict. These are the raw documents.
Is there a book you particularly recommend on the subject of the history of Zionism, the Jewish State, Palestine, etc? Please add to this list in the comments!
I had to print out this post. So helpful! I read the Shavit book when it was racing through our synagogue, and then read the Prime Ministers, which is a very different kind of book, long but easy reading, like a soap opera. I always feel like I’m missing something on this topic, though, so more books should help. Thank you!
Which other books on Israel have you read and what did you think of them?
I read a For Dummies book years ago, seriously, and it was an easy way into the subject.
Those books are often good introductions to a subject. I wish they had a nicer name.
Thanks! Added your recommendations to my Amazon wish list. One excellent book that I was assigned during my conversion was “Jews, God, and History” by Max I. Dimont. It’s easy to read, has a thorough bibliography and good index.
Thank you, Jim!
Anita Shapira’s ISRAEL: A HISTORY. Took me a long time to read through it, but definitely worth the effort.
A few others with a different perspective but all quite creditable. Its worthwhile for all of us Jews, I think. to be aware of differing views about the history and consequences of Zionism.
THE UNMAKING OF ISRAEL – GERSHOM GORENBERG
THE IDEA OF ISRAEL- ILAN PAPPE
THE MAKING AND UNMAKING OF A ZIONIST – ANTONY LERMAN
THE RETURNS OF ZIONISM – GABRIEL PITERBERG
THE INVENTION OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL – SHLOMO SAND
I agree. I read everything I can lay hands on by Gershom Gorenberg, especially.