by Ari Shavit
First published 2014
Ari Shavit examines Israel's century-long journey from Zionist dream to modern state facing existential crisis. The Israeli journalist draws on interviews, historical documents, memoirs, and personal letters to illuminate pivotal moments in Zionist history while weaving together individual stories with national narrative. Shavit confronts Israel's internal contradictions and external pressures, asking fundamental questions: How and why did Israel come to exist? Can it survive? He paints a portrait of a small, energetic nation living on the edge, whose identity plays a crucial role in global politics. The book combines historical analysis with contemporary examination of current threats and challenges. Since Thomas L. Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem, no work has captured the beating heart of the Middle East with such clarity and dynamism. Shavit's deeply personal yet authoritative account uses past events to shed new light on present realities.
Genres: history, 20th-century, politics, non-fiction, 21st-century, middle-east
Vibes: authoritative, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: national-identity, personal-narrative
Setting: Israel
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
496 pages · Paperback · Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego