Name: My Promised Land
ISBN: 9780385521703

Ari Shavit

An influential columnist from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz presents a groundbreaking examination of Israel that traces the events that led the country to its current state of conflict through the stories of everyday citizens to illuminate the importance of lesser-known historical events.

The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

My Promised Land

Shavit’s work acts as great foundation of any human hoping to understand Israel. This is not a book meant to recite all historical details in the history, rather it paints a picture of the people involved. 

Ali Angco

Elda Mengisto

I thought this was a well-written and intriguing book. I liked how Shavit went in-depth regarding the history of Israel and contemplates its current condition. At the same time, we feature several open gaps which could be filled...

Melody Izard

I got this for Craig for Christmas - because he is such a current events man. He said I should read it too. I was not sure. I prefer to have watered down information on the troubled Middle East dribbled to me in fits and starts so I can listen or not listen depending on my need to face or not face up to scary possibilities. 

But WOW! Israel is way complicated. And Ari is so persistent in making sure we see it all. He does it by writing in this weird present tense, even when he is way back in the 1800s talking about the early hippie-like Zionists and their matching white tents and commune life. And he uses it when he tells of events that were happening just before he set down his pen. But I forgive him for his awkward speech patterns and thank him for such a clear and detailed history and analysis of that queer land. 

And the possibilities are indeed scary my friend.

Sebastian Stoelen

Jimmy Cerone

Jacob Mishook

Toby Fehily

Brendan M

A groundbreaking and authoritative examination of Israel by one of the most influential columnists writing about the Middle East today. Facing unprecedented internal and external pressures, Israel today is at a moment of existential crisis. My Promised Land tells the story of Israel as it has never been told before, and asks difficult but important questions: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? And can Israel survive? Through revealing stories of significant events and lives of ordinary individuals — the youth group leader who recognised the potential of Masada as a powerful symbol for Zionism; the young farmer who bought an orange grove from his Arab neighbour in the 1920s, and helped to create a booming economy in Palestine; the engineer who was instrumental in developing Israel’s nuclear program; the religious Zionists who started the settler movement — Israeli journalist Ari Shavit illuminates the issues and threats that Israel is currently facing and uses the defining events of the past to shed new light on the present. The result is a landmark portrait of a small, vibrant country living on the edge, whose identity and presence play a crucial role in today’s global political landscape.

My Promised Land The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

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