Menachem Begin was run out of Poland by the Nazis, imprisoned by the Soviets, hunted by the British and nearly murdered by the Jews. To have survived would have been impressive enough. To have flourished- Begin led the first Jewish nationalist revolution in nearly 2,000 years and signed the first peace treaty in Israeli history- ranks as something of a miracle” -Sidney Zion, 1983
Menachem Begin was a participant in the major events in modern Jewish history: the evolution of Zionism, resistance to the Nazi genocide, Soviet conquest of Eastern Europe, struggle against British rule in Palestine, founding of the state of Israel and the peace treaty with Egypt, which won him a Nobel Prize.
Begin was a controversial figure, commander of the Irgun, an underground Army which fought against the British Mandatory regime in Palestine. He was lionized by some, demonized by others, but his love of the Jewish people and his heroism in the service of their national homeland were never questioned.
The Revolt is Begin’s account of the Irgun’s campaign against the British Mandatory Regime and its role in in the 1948 War of Independence. Told without partisan shading and buttressed by official documents and correspondence it offers a truthful historical record of that momentous period
“I read The Revolt by Menachem Begin and was encouraged by the fact that the Israeli leader had led a guerrilla force in a country with neither mountains nor forests, a situation similar to our own.”
–Nelson Mandela
“Anyone who wants to understand Begin today must read his book…In fiery words the book opens with Polish-born Begin’s days in the Soviet concentration camp preceding his arrival in Palestine in May 1942. He records but does not dwell upon his suffering. “This book is devoted not to tears but to revolution; not to unfortunates but to rebels; not to Russia and her labor camps but to Eretz Israel ( the land of Israel) and the struggle for freedom from foreign rule.”…The book makes powerful reading.”
–Wolf Blitzer, New York Times Book Review
