Rating: 
Summary: Tale of one city and two communities
Review: I had wanted to know about the history of the middle-east conflict when a person known to me suggested this one. Observations here are based on contents of the book. This book provided the more recent history beginning with the UN partition vote in November 1947. Excellent account. Sometimes even blow by blow. I am convinced that there can be no lasting peace without UN Trusteeship monitoring Jerusalem. I request all readers to laugh at world leaders whenever they mention the word "peace" with respect to Isreal/Palestine conflict. I am amazed at Jewish unity during very difficult times. I am equally amazed at the Arab disunity - then in 1947/48 and even now. If only they had commited themselves then, Israel wouldn't have existed. This is one thing that David Ben-Gurion feared and never really happened. Its amazing to know that Jewish community relied on four militia movements (so to say) - Hagannah, Irgun, Stern Gang and Palmech to defeat the Arabs - infact their armies predominantly belonging to Egypt and Transjordan. Is that height of Jewish patriotic fever or height of Arab disunity or height of Jewish efficiency. Could be all! Readers should read the book and find out for themselves. I appreciate the author of this book.
Rating:
Summary: An unbiased telling of the establishment of Israel.
Review: I tend towards books in the historical novel genre, and count among my favorite authors Herman Wouk and Leon Uris. "O Jerusalem!" was recommended to me by someone familiar with my interest in the history of Israel, and I was hesitant to read it at first, thinking that I didn't want to slog through some dry account of such a worthwhile topic. Well, "dry" cannot be applied to any aspect of this book. Considering all of the college history books I've read, I think I can truly say that this is the best "true" historical telling of a topic that I've read...yet. The authors, in true journalistic form, did their research, and brought in those "human interest" aspects I so love in the historical novels. Their treatment of both the Arabs and the Jews is about as unbiased as one can be--I didn't see any blatant pandering to either side-- and felt that any (potentially) incindiary remarks were based wholly on historical track record (e.g., Arabs don't have a history--in Palestine--of cultivating the land, and this neglect is mentioned a few times). I recommend this book to anyone wishing for an in-depth (but not too technically deep!) look into the partition vote, the siege of Jerusalem, and the establishment of the State of Israel. ( As an aside: I'm not too interested in politics, but the political wrangling inherent in the entire partition process is quite fascinating. It goes to show that 'goodwill gestures' have about a million moving parts--not necessarily made out of love!).
Rating:
Summary: An unbiased telling of the establishment of Israel.
Review: I tend towards books in the historical novel genre, and count among my favorite authors Herman Wouk and Leon Uris. "O Jerusalem!" was recommended to me by someone familiar with my interest in the history of Israel, and I was hesitant to read it at first, thinking that I didn't want to slog through some dry account of such a worthwhile topic. Well, "dry" cannot be applied to any aspect of this book. Considering all of the college history books I've read, I think I can truly say that this is the best "true" historical telling of a topic that I've read...yet. The authors, in true journalistic form, did their research, and brought in those "human interest" aspects I so love in the historical novels. Their treatment of both the Arabs and the Jews is about as unbiased as one can be--I didn't see any blatant pandering to either side-- and felt that any (potentially) incindiary remarks were based wholly on historical track record (e.g., Arabs don't have a history--in Palestine--of cultivating the land, and this neglect is mentioned a few times). I recommend this book to anyone wishing for an in-depth (but not too technically deep!) look into the partition vote, the siege of Jerusalem, and the establishment of the State of Israel. ( As an aside: I'm not too interested in politics, but the political wrangling inherent in the entire partition process is quite fascinating. It goes to show that 'goodwill gestures' have about a million moving parts--not necessarily made out of love!).
Rating:
Summary: Give your Christian faith a boost - read this book!
Review: I urge every Christian and Jew to read this book - it will give you a new appreciation for your Bible, and for Israel. It makes it clear just how out-manned, out-gunned and out-supplied the Israelis were when they established their new nation - and what impossible odds they faced. Their claims to the land are rooted in Biblical history and this book makes a good case for those claims, because they obviously had some Divine Help!
Rating: 
Summary: Well Researched Piece of History
Review: I very much enjoyed this book. It was well-written and well-researched. I also thought the authors were fair to all parties concerned, especially the Jews and the Arabs. My husband made the comment that he had thought the Jews had won through organization but, after reading the book, he thought otherwise. I was surprised by the involvement of the British. Excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: How Great the Struggle!
Review: No novel could have been more exciting than this detailed story of the birth of Israel and the early struggles. This book is written with all the suspense and excitement of a novel but what sets it aside is that it is all factual. The authors do an excellent job of researching those tense days back in 1948 with the realization that the fall of Israel was within a heartbeat the whole time until some last minute help from the US One of my favorite books!
Rating:
Summary: Accurate, engaging, and well-researched
Review: One can nitpick -- vague timelines, some wrong presumptions -- but one cannot deny that this is a book which is long on fact and even longer on good storytelling. The authors have the usual "orientalist" anti-Arabism in the style of the book -- Arabs "swarm" and do "frenzied" things and are compared to locusts traveling at one point. The authors maintain a Labor Zionist emphasis, e.g. the Irgun and Lehi Zionists are called terrorists (please let the reader decide!) and it is clear that the LAbor Zionists are getting "home team" coverage, but the authors do not suppress certain facts, e.g. they do dispute as a result of their investigation the old (and today discarded) contention that Arabs fled as a result of an evacuation policy by Arab leaders and state more accurately that Arabs fled form fear of war, terroristic violence and forced expulsion. It also looks as if they talked to everyone, Jewish, Arab, and British who was there. A classic of popular history, by no means the last word, but certainly one of the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Biased and full of myths
Review: The authors portray the bloodthirsty Arab invaders as noble fighters and devote a disproportional amount of writing to the alleged massacre at Deir Yassin. They make the libelous claim that Jews raped Arab women, looted, mutilated, and executed civilians. Even the Arabs themselves admitted that the "massacre" didn't take place and that Arab propaganda made up the atrocity and rape stories in order to whip up the Arabs into a murderous anti-Jewish frenzy.
Stay away from this biased and mythological account. It is anti-Israeli fiction, not a serious historic account.
Rating:
Summary: Biased and full of myths
Review: The authors portray the bloodthirsty Arab invaders as noble fighters and devote a disproportional amount of writing to the alleged massacre at Deir Yassin. They make the libelous claim that Jews raped Arab women, looted, mutilated, and executed civilians. Even the Arabs themselves admitted that the "massacre" didn't take place and that Arab propaganda made up the atrocity and rape stories in order to whip up the Arabs into a murderous anti-Jewish frenzy.
Stay away from this biased and mythological account. It is anti-Israeli fiction, not a serious historic account.
Rating:
Summary: Keeping balance on a critical subject.
Review: The subject of this book arise passions all around the world: the birth of the State of Israel in 1948. Since then controversy, war and a seeming endless conflict between Jews and Arabs rage unquenched.
Any text approaching these events will be immediately scrutinized and criticized by confronting parties.
The authors are not rookies; they have a well earned reputation thru their previous book "Is Paris Burning?" (1965). They apply the technique of interviewing key witness, ranging from public figures to almost unknown particulars. All of them have their saying and express their viewpoints unrestricted.
Collins and Lapierre take this huge mass of information to produce a coherent, ordered, dynamic and griping story. At the same time they managed to keep the balance without avoiding sore spots.
This is an informative book commendable for anyone who is interested in Near East history. You may start from here and proceed afterwards with more partisan essays, giving them credit as it suits to your particular beliefs.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
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