The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World [Paperback]

For this newly expanded edition, Avi Shlaim has added fourchapters and an epilogue that address the prime ministershipsfrom Barak to Netanyahu in the one book everyoneshould read for a concise history of Israels relations withArabs (Independent). What was promulgated as an iron-wallstrategybuilding a position of unassailable strengthwas meant to yield to a further stage where Israel would bestrong enough to negotiate a satisfactory peace with itsneighbors. The goal still remains elusive, if not even furtheraway. This penetrating study brilliantly illuminates past progressand future prospects for peace in the Middle East.Shlaims usual appreciation for complexities and contradictionsand his keen sketches of the principal Israeli actorsmake this very readable book one of the best and most illuminatingaccounts of Arab-Israeli relations in years.A powerful overview of 50 years of policy.Fascinating. . . . Shlaim presents compelling evidence for a revaluationof traditional Israeli history.New York Times Book Review