Reflections on the causes and consequences of the Israel—Palestine conflict, by the author of The Iron Wall

With characteristic rigor and readability, Avi Shlaim reflects on a range of key issues, transformations and personalities in the Israel-Palestine conflict. From the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the failure of the Oslo peace process, from the 1948 War to the 2008 invasion of Gaza, Israel and Palestine places current events in their proper historical perspective.

Israel and Palestine assesses the impact of key political and intellectual figures, including Yasir Arafat and Ariel Sharon, Edward Said and Benny Morris; it also re-examines the United States’ influential role in the conflict, and explores the many missed opportunities for peace and progress in the region. Clear-eyed and meticulous, Israel and Palestine is an essential tool for understanding the fractured history and future prospects of Israel-Palestine.

“Provides even the hardened student with some new perspectives.” — Economist

“Avi Shlaim is the sort of historian every country needs. An exposer of national myths, the supreme scholar of Arab-Israeli negotiations.” — Philip Mansel, Spectator

“Not often today do we find historians who are this honest and this bleak and this able—for some reason, I think here of T. S. Eliot’s essays—to express truth so simply.” Robert Fisk, Independent

“Fascinating … Shlaim presents compelling evidence for a re-evaluation of traditional Israeli history.” — New York Times Book Review

“One of the best and most illuminating accounts of Arab-Israeli relations in years.” — Foreign Affairs

Praise for Lion of Jordan

“Shlaim tells this singular story in great detail … The ambiguous growth of Palestinian ambitions; the fluctuating loyalties of the Jordanian army; incessant domestic corruptions and political rivalries; the Iran-Iraq war; the emergence of Saddam Hussein; the brooding threats of the cold war — all is happening in the pages of this book.” — Jan Morris, Guardian

Avi Shlaim is a Fellow of St. Anthony’s College and a professor of international relations at the University of Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the British September Academy in 2006. His books include Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace; War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History; and The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. He lives in Oxford.