Description

---

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

For this newly expanded edition, Avi Shlaim has added four chapters and an epilogue that address the prime ministerships from Barak to Netanyahu in the “one book everyone should read for a concise history of Israel’s relations with Arabs” (Independent). What was promulgated as an “iron-wall” strategy—building a position of unassailable strength— was meant to yield to a further stage where Israel would be strong enough to negotiate a satisfactory peace with its neighbors. The goal still remains elusive, if not even further away. This penetrating study brilliantly illuminates past progress and future prospects for peace in the Middle East.

About the Author

---

Avi Shlaim is a professor emeritus of international relations at the University of Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the British 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; The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World; and Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations. He lives in Oxford.

Praise For…

---

Shlaim’s usual appreciation for complexities and contradictions
and his keen sketches of the principal Israeli actors
make this very readable book one of the best and most illuminating
accounts of Arab-Israeli relations in years.
— Yaron Ezrahi - Foreign Affairs

A powerful overview of 50 years of policy.
— Milton Viorst - Washington Post