The Reckoning: Death and Intrigue in the Promised Land--a True Detective Story

by Patrick Bishop

Overview

One of Britain's most renowned military historians revisits a controversial murder: that of Zionist leader Avraham Stern, head of Israel's notorious Stern Gang, in Tel Aviv during WWII.

Militant Zionist Avraham Stern believed he was destined to be the Jewish liberator of British Palestine. As the ringleader of the infamous Stern Gang, also known as Lehi, he masterminded a series of high-profile terrorist attacks in pursuit of his dream. On the run from British authorities who'd put a bounty on his head, Stern was hiding in an attic in Tel Aviv when he was killed by Assistant Superintendent Geoffrey Morton, a British colonial policeman assigned to capture him.

Morton claimed Stern was trying to escape. But witnesses insisted he was executed in cold blood. His controversial death inspired a cult of martyrdom that gave new life to Lehi, helping to destroy hopes of a detente between the British, the Arabs, and the Jews.

The Reckoning is the story of Patrick Bishop's quest to discover the truth. Based on extensive research—including access to Morton's private archive and eyewitness interviews—it recounts this seismic event in full, without bias, placing it within the context of its turbulent time. Bishop's gripping, groundbreaking narrative brings to life two men similar in ambition and dedication, chronicles the events that led to their fatal meeting, and explores how the impact of Stern's death reverberated through the final years of British rule and the birth of Israel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062267832
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/22/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Patrick Bishop has emerged in the last decade as one of Britain’s best-regarded military historians with his books Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys, which cast a new light on the men who flew in the Battle of Britain and the Strategic Air Campaign, as well as 3 Para, which follows British troops in the 2006 battle in Helmand. He is also the author of two novels.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Glossary xi

Maps xiii

Prologue 1

1 'There Are Few Who Do Good and Many That Do Evil' 7

2 This Was the Job for Me' 19

3 'Let Fists Be Flung Like Stone' 39

4 'A Soul for a Soul and Blood for Blood' 57

5 'And Fie is a Rebel, Eager for the Storm' 79

6 'In the Underground' 95

7 They Will Cover Your Memory with Spittle and Disgrace' 107

8 A 'Trap for the British Brutes' 125

9 'Al-Ta'Amod!' 143

10 'It Doesn't Matter If They Kill Me' 155

11 'Avraham, Avraham' 165

12 'The Blood of Your Brethren Is Calling to You from the Grave' 181

13 'Hatred Was Aflame in Their Hearts and the Need for Vengeance Burned' 193

14 'Terrorism Is an Infectious Disease' 213

15 'Striking a Blow against the Falsification of History' 225

16 'It's Nothing Like the Truth' 239

17 'The Holy City' 251

Acknowledgements 259

Notes 263

Picture Credits 285

Index 287

Editorial Reviews

Bishop’s book has all the suspense and detail of a good novel.” — Boston Globe

“What [Bishop] does, thanks to tireless research and powerful storytelling, is show how a ruthless murderer of civilians became an unnecessary martyr.” — New York magazine

“Mr Bishop’s depiction of Stern’s downfall is masterful.” — The Economist

“Bishop’s fast-paced, well-written work sheds considerable light not only on how and why Stern was killed but on the final, violent years of the British mandate in Palestine.” — Publishers Weekly

“Clearly representing the point of view of the colonial British authorities, the author largely avoids demonizing or making heroes of either of his main protagonists, a failing of most English and Israeli accounts of the period.” — Library Journal

Praise for Fighter Boys: “I know of no more thoughtful nor yet more moving study of their achievement.” — Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph (London), on FIGHTER BOYS

“As a vivid chronicle of who the Battle of Britain pilots were, what motivated them, and why they were ultimately successful, Fighter Boys is unsurpassed.” — Daily Telegraph (London) on FIGHTER BOYS

“No one reading this book can possibly doubt the heroism of those involved…there can’t be a finer history.” — James Holland, The New Statesman (London) on FIGHTER BOYS

“Bishop successfully weaves a story that is both entertaining and revealing…. He does an admirable job of showing how British police officers faced the difficult task of maintaining order between Jews and the Arabs whose resistance set the stage for later bloody confrontations.” — Washington Post

“Patrick Bishop’s book has important lessons for the modern day.” — Economist (UK), “Books of the Year” pick

“Patrick Bishop’s book on the death of Avraham Stern is an important chapter in the tragic and bloody history of the Holy Land” — Iron Mountain Daily News (Michigan)

From the Publisher

What [Bishop] does, thanks to tireless research and powerful storytelling, is show how a ruthless murderer of civilians became an unnecessary martyr.

New York magazine

Bishop successfully weaves a story that is both entertaining and revealing…. He does an admirable job of showing how British police officers faced the difficult task of maintaining order between Jews and the Arabs whose resistance set the stage for later bloody confrontations.

Washington Post

Bishop’s book has all the suspense and detail of a good novel.

Boston Globe

Patrick Bishop’s book has important lessons for the modern day.

Economist (UK)

Praise for Fighter Boys: “I know of no more thoughtful nor yet more moving study of their achievement.

Max Hastings

As a vivid chronicle of who the Battle of Britain pilots were, what motivated them, and why they were ultimately successful, Fighter Boys is unsurpassed.

Daily Telegraph (London) on FIGHTER BOYS

No one reading this book can possibly doubt the heroism of those involved…there can’t be a finer history.

James Holland

Mr Bishop’s depiction of Stern’s downfall is masterful.

The Economist

Patrick Bishop’s book on the death of Avraham Stern is an important chapter in the tragic and bloody history of the Holy Land

Iron Mountain Daily News (Michigan)

Bishop successfully weaves a story that is both entertaining and revealing…. He does an admirable job of showing how British police officers faced the difficult task of maintaining order between Jews and the Arabs whose resistance set the stage for later bloody confrontations.

Washington Post