First published 2014
Lawrence Wright reconstructs the 1978 Camp David conference day by day. President Jimmy Carter brought Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat together for thirteen days of negotiations. The talks produced the first peace treaty in the modern Middle East, an agreement that remains in effect today. Wright follows each day of the conference, showing how Carter pushed the negotiations forward despite the participants being lifelong enemies. The author reveals the roles of other key figures including Moshe Dayan, Osama el-Baz, and Zbigniew Brzezinski working behind the scenes. Rosalynn Carter also played a significant part in the process. Wright examines the scriptural narratives that frame the Middle East conflict and the issues that make regional problems so difficult to resolve. The book demonstrates how this unexpected peace was achieved while acknowledging the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian struggle that the agreement left unsettled. Wright provides an inside view of diplomatic negotiations and peacemaking.
Genres: history, 20th-century, political-science, non-fiction, biography-memoir, middle-east, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, historical-figures
Setting: Camp David, Middle East
Period: 1978
368 pages · Hardcover · Knopf