A review by thomasroche
1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East by Tom Segev

4.0

This thing is huge. Seriously. I feel like I really accomplished something finishing it. That said, I enjoyed it and found it a fascinating and extensive history of the events preceding the six-day war. It is notably pro-Israel but does not seem jingoistically or blatantly so. But the story is clearly told almost exclusively from Israeli sources, which unquestionably gives it a certain bias. Many of the sources are letters home (to the U.S. or to Israel) from Israelis, either civilians in Israel or soldiers in the field. As a result, there is a significantly sentimental feel to the text, which is good or bad depending on what you're looking for. This book can get emotionally overwrought at times when it's discussing the experience of individual Israelis. But its other strength is a pretty comprehensive coverage of the Israeli and Israeli-US political scene. If you read the political sequences with an ear for humor (intentional or unintentional) then you'll get more out of it. For non-Israelis, this book would benefit hugely from already knowing a fair amount about Israeli politics, since the names and personalities involved can get pretty thick in the lead-up to war.

Overall, I found it hugely enjoyable as well as, given the current situation in Israel/Palestine, deeply heartbreaking.