Rating: 
Summary: Well researched, well written, highly recommended.
Review: A very impressive and well researched account of the events surrounding the 1967 Six Day War. Michael Oren's research reinforces that of others and shows a disturbing trend that there is an alarming similarity between the events of 1967 and those of the present day. Palestinian/Arab terrorist activities and the wholesale, indiscriminate slaughter of innocent Jewish civilians were just as common-place leading up to the 1967 conflict as they are now. The historic impotence and reluctance of the UN and the International Community is illustrated in their unwillingness to condemn, hinder or prevent these attacks upon Israel prior to and leading up to the Six Day War. However, history shows that these same entities were even then still so ready to condemn the Jewish state for defending itself. It is a historical fact that the Gaza Strip and the so-called 'West Bank' were not even in Israeli hands prior to the 1967 conflict. The author shows in his account that despite being in the hands of Egypt and Jordan respectively, no attempt was made to forge any 'Palestinian' state. To the contrary, Egypt created the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1964, three years before the conflict. This book so clearly shows, that these very territories were used as a base from which to seek the destruction of the Jewish state and the genocide of the Jews from the midst of the surrounding Arab nations. When one reads this book and the fascinating details surrounding the battles and the involvement of each Arab nation and sees the actual history of the conflict, one can see that the Palestinians have never occupied or held any territory and clearly the public is being completely and utterly deceived by the manner in which the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is being presented to them. For decades the Arab world has sought to eradicate the Jewish state since it's very birth in 1948. The Six Day War just being one occasion in it's own right. Year after year, the Arab world would invent a new public relations theme, or a new form of disinformation or a new way to misrepresent the Arab war against Israel. The most significant of all such decisions was the agreement to accept the disinformation by the Arab world that the Arab-Israeli conflict actually had something to do with Palestinians. It was only after the loss of the West Bank and Gaza in this well documented conflict and well into the 1970s that the Arabs themselves thought up the idea of basing their campaign on 'Palestinian rights.' Before that, they had a far more candid approach and demanded openly that the Jews be tossed into the sea. The 'Palestinianization' of the campaign of Arab aggression arose from their realization that you can further your agenda far more successfully through the political goals of self-determination than with declarations of intended genocide. when the West Bank and Gaza were under the rule of Arab countries prior to this conflict, they were not converted into some sort of Palestinian state and there were no Palestinians demanding 'self-determination.' The book shows that any Palestinian issue was not on the agenda leading up to or during the whole war. These Arab occupied lands were only used as stepping stones by Syria, Jordan and Egypt from which to wage terrorist attacks upon Israel and to launch this specific conflict against the Jewish state. This is an absolute must read on the Middle East. It certainly deals with and puts to rest once and for all the myths and allegations that Israel was responsible for this conflict. For those who can see the real intent behind the scenes it also exposes the anti-Israeli agenda so prevalent in the international community. It is really impossible to separate these issues as they are both so inextricably linked.
Rating:
Summary: A most enjoyable lesson in history
Review: Powerful, excellent,and gripping-hard to believe it's a documentary. It reads like a Clancy novel-only it's all true!
The material has clearly been extensively researched. The book is extremely well written. Dr. Oren manages to convert an otherwise dry and confusing history lesson into an exciting reading adventure. With the Middle East dominating our News and our lives, this book is a must read-for all! It should be on every high school and college reading list.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, particularly about the BIG LIE
Review: A fine well researched book (92 pages of notes to 327 pages of text) that kept the pages turning. I found my self absorbed by the book which drew me in and hooked me. I actually found myself brought nearly to tears at the western wall (though I am not the least bit Jewish.) As a student of history in general and of the Roman siege of Jerusalem it was a epoch shaking moment for an entire race. I found Nassar and King Hussain situations were told with emotion and some sympathy. The reviewers who said this book was dry were reading something else. The battle tales were interesting but the story of the diplomats jousting and both sides building to the showdown really made the book a winner. It was HIGH NOON with the clock ticking ever closer. (The use of a liberal amount of both Arab and Jewish participants to both the battle and the diplomatic action really pays off here.) It illustrates how both sides (ok all 6 sides US, USSR, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt) misread each other. In my opinion it is impossible to read another countries mind without a deep spy. Grant's dictum about worrying about what you are doing rather than your foe's works well here. The most significant thing in the book however is the story of the BIG LIE concerning US and British attacks. This more than anything else shows the weakness of dictatorship in general and the arab states in particular. Building a foundation on falsehood; false victories, false reports, false charges is necessary when you have to control your people in order to lead them. Problems can't be addressed and situations can't be advanced while this is true, likewise troops can't be inspired when they can't believe what their commanders say for can the people be expected to sustain a war when they don't believe what is being said. For Arabs this cycle is still being repeated today, my favorite example being Imam Muhammad al-Gameia who a few days after attending a service in NY preaching love and unity (in English) went to Egypt and said that the Jews were behind Sept 11 and Arabs were being shot in the streets in NY. (In Arabic) This to me is the great unintended lesson of this book. ...
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, Informative...Indispensable.
Review: This is a well-documented and well-written account that provides the reader with as much as they really need to know about this conflict. Sadly, there will be some that believe that Oren does not adequately represent the Arab "point of view" here. But Oren has done such a thorough job documenting this work that those readers will have to explain away a lot of hard fact to convincingly make that argument. (The maps could have been more comprehensive, though.) Final thought: there are so many different instances within this account where events appear to have been driven by "happenstance" (a letter not delivered, warnings not issued, etc.) that one must conclude that the Hand of G-d was [and is] all over this thing. May He help bring a peaceful conclusion to the conflict very soon.
Rating:
Summary: Definitive AND a joy to read
Review: When I saw Michael Oren on Booknotes I believed his book was one I would want to read, and I am glad I did. This is an exceptionally well-done account, not only of the Six Day War itself, but of the events leading up to it, and some on the events after it up to now. Sometimes books about war get dull even in reciting exciting events, because they spend lots of time relating minutiae about individual units, or read as if they were designed to help wargamers plot the events or help people learn about their relatives' role in the war. This book avoids that, and I can honestly say there is not a single dull page in the book. The maps are helpful, tho for us older folk a magnifying glass is helpful. The book is exhaustively footnoted, but the footnotes are unintrusive and need not be consulted unless the reader wants to get the source for the statements. (So often the footnotes in a book contain interesting material which makes it necessary to check each one--even tho many are just giving a source.) And the book truly is even-handed, free from the type of applause which Stephen Ambrose for instance lards his books with. Particularly I liked the fact that the diplomatic and political events of the war are covered right along with the military--in other words, the interplay of the military events and the political and diplomatic events are given not in separate chapters but right where the reader wants to know them. I read Colonel Trevor Dupuy's book, Elusive Victory: The Arab-Israeli Wars, 1947-1974, and found it, tho it dealt with such momentous events, a bore to read unless one was enthralled by the technical military spects of war. This book contains so much which was enlightening to me, including a balanced and convincing account concerning the attack on the US ship Liberty, which till I read this book I could not understand but which is explained in a believable way. This is the best book about war that I have read since I read With the Old Breed, by E. B. Sledge back in March of 2001. And that is saying a lot since I have read some great books concerning war during that time, including April 1865: The Month That Saved America, by Jay Winik, and Eye-Deep in Hell, by John Ellis. Six Days of War is a must-read for anyone interested in the Middle East today--and are we not all?
Rating: 
Summary: The definitive history of the Six Days War...
Review: This is the definitive contemporary book written about the Six Days War. This war, which pitted Israel against a coalition of Arab States, occurred in 1967, and resulted in a stunning victory for Israel. While this book purports to present an even-handed account balanced between Israel and the Arabs, the tone does tend to lend a positive slant towards the Israeli position. Regardless, the book does offer a compelling account of the events that led to the war, as well as the war itself and the never-ending (to this day) aftermath. If you want to learn more about the Six Day War or modern Mideast history, you should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Dry, but informative and very to the point
Review: Very knowledgeable, complete timeline of events that helps pull all the pieces of this mess together. Seemed to have too much of a pro-Israeli slant at times, justifying the Israeli atrocities instead of sitting back and truly being objective. He definitely knows his stuff! He and Patrick Seale (more pro Palestinian) could probably get to the bottom of all this together, and even come up with a solution.
Rating:
Summary: excellent read!
Review: I saw Booknotes' Brian Lamb and his interview with the author and bought the book the following day. It reads like a novel yet is thoroughly footnoted and researched. I.m a history buff and thought I know much about the Six Day War but I was delighted to learn so much more. I have recommended this book to my friends and to you as well! 9/3/02.
Rating:
Summary: To Understand the Middle East Now - A Must Read
Review: Historian Michael Oren's "Six Days of War" brings into context the perplexing politics of the middle east, today. It is his assertion that the ramifications of the Six Day War (the Arabs call it by another name) are present in current middle eastern events. This assertion is well founded. This book must be read in order to understand the 'byzantine' politics of middle eastern politics that traverse the globe even today. There are the public and private stances of nation states - all acting in their own interest - but which truly must be examined in this book. It is obvious that an American cannot understand the current events of the middle east without reading this well written account. No opinion by the non-middle eastern specialist can be made without a history of this type. It is interesting and the drama compels one to keep the pages turning. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Six Days of War
Review: One of the best books ever written on the Six-Day War and the events leading up to it. Uncovers little known facts and pieces the entire puzzle together objectively. Could not put it down.
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