Archives: Books

The saga of Israel is fascinating, unique, and controversial. Yet the whole is constructed from individual episodes. This book concentrates on relating such episodes rather than narrating a formal, conventional history up until the present day. Each section deals with a different aspect of this journey through the decades. The chapters are based on the … Read more

The Israeli Right first came to power nearly four decades ago. Its election was described then as ‘an earthquake’, and its reverberations are still with us. How then did the Right rise to power? What are its origins? Colin Shindler traces this development from the birth of Zionism in cosmopolitan Odessa in the nineteenth century … Read more

Israel and the World Powers

Colin Shindler’s remarkable history begins in 1948, as waves of immigrants arrived in Israel from war-torn Europe to establish new cities, new institutions, and a new culture founded on the Hebrew language. Optimistic beginnings were soon replaced with the sobering reality of wars with Arab neighbours, internal ideological differences, and ongoing confrontation with the Palestinians. … Read more

Why has the European Left become so antagonistic towards Israel? To answer this question, Colin Shindler looks at the struggle between Marxism-Leninism and Zionism from the October Revolution to today. Is such antagonism in opposition to the policies of successive Israeli governments? Or, is it due to a resurgence of anti-Semitism? The answer is far … Read more

Lo stato d’Israele è nato nel 1948. Questo saggio di Colin Shindler ripercorre sessant’anni della storia d’Israele, dai suoi esordi pieni d’ottimismo e di speranze, con l’immigrazione, gli insediamenti, la costruzione delle città e delle istituzioni israeliane, attraverso le guerre con i vicini arabi e il confronto con i palestinesi, fino agli ultimi, recentissimi sviluppi. … Read more

Published by Cambridge University Press – 2008 The state of Israel came into existence in 1948. Colin Shindler’s book traces Israel’s history across sixty years, from its optimistic beginnings – immigration, settlement, the creation of its towns and institutions – through the wars with its Arab neighbours, and the confrontation with the Palestinians. Shindler paints a … Read more

Published by Cambridge University Press – 2008 The state of Israel came into existence in 1948. Colin Shindler’s book traces Israel’s history across sixty years, from its optimistic beginnings – immigration, settlement, the creation of its towns and institutions – through the wars with its Arab neighbours, and the confrontation with the Palestinians. Shindler paints a … Read more

Published by I B Tauris & Co Ltd – 2010 Why did Israel shift from a state based on pioneering egalitarianism and ‘making the desert bloom’ to one which is chiefly known for its military prowess? ‘The Triumph of Military Zionism’ examines Israel’s shift to the right at the hands of Menachem Begin, the supposed ‘disciple’ … Read more