Colin Shindler is emeritus professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He became the first professor of Israel Studies in the UK in 2008 and was the founding chairman of the European Association of Israeli Studies (EAIS) in 2009.
He is the author of twelve books including his History Of Modern Israel (Cambridge University Press 2008, 2013).
The History of Modern Israel has been translated into Italian, Polish and Estonian.
His main interests lie in the evolution of the Israeli Right, the changes in the approach of the British and European Left towards Israel since 1948 and the emigration movement of Soviet Jews between 1917 and 1991.
Israel and the European Left: Between Solidarity and Delegitimisation (Continuum/Bloomsbury 2012) was one of the first books to examine the history of the relationship between the British Left and Israel.
He edited a collection of essays by numerous Israel Studies scholars, Israel and the World Powers: Diplomatic Alliances and International Relations beyond the Middle East (I. B. Tauris 2014)
The author of several previous books which had focused on the political odysseys of Vladimir Jabotinsky, Menahem Begin and Avraham Stern, The Rise of the Israeli Right: From Odessa to Hebron (Cambridge University Press) was awarded the gold medal as the best book for 2016 in The Washington Institute’s for Near East Policy’s Book Prize competition.
The Hebrew Republic: Israel’s Return to History was published by Rowman and Littlefield in the summer of 2017. This episodic history of Israel features articles written over half a century but interlinked with contemporary pieces to contextualise past events.
His latest book, Israel: A History in 100 Cartoons was published by Cambridge University Press in February 2023. For each year, there are four pages: a cartoon by an iconic Israeli cartoonist of the time, a time line for the year and two pages of what happened during that year. There are also sections on Zionism, the Road to 1948 and a long introduction about the role of Jews in satire, caricatures and cartoons internationally.
He lectures and broadcasts nationally and internationally. He has written for and reviewed for The Times, Guardian, New York Times, Plus61j, Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle, Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz, History Today, Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman and many other journals. The author of over 800 articles and reviews since 1969 on Israel and Jewish political history – all of which can be located on this website.
The Routledge Handbook on Zionism which he has edited will be published in the summer of 2024. Forty academics from many parts of the world have contributed to this work.
He is currently honorary president of the EAIS.
It is always worth reading Colin’s views on topics relating to Israel, the Jews or the Middle East. His knowledge of how these topics intertwine and his ability to succinctly outline the facts are outstanding.