The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948 / Edition 2

by Eugene L. Rogan, Avi Shlaim

Overview

The 1948 war led to the creation of the state of Israel, the fragmentation of Palestine, and to a conflict which has raged across the intervening sixty years. The historical debate likewise continues and these debates are encapsulated in the second edition of The War for Palestine, updated to include chapters on Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. In a preface to this edition, the editors survey the state of scholarship in this contested field. The impact of these debates goes well beyond academia. There is an important link between the state of Arab-Israeli relations and popular attitudes towards the past. A more complex and fair-minded understanding of that past is essential for preserving at least the prospect of reconciliation between Arabs and Israel in the future. The rewriting of the history of 1948 thus remains a practical as well as an academic imperative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521699341
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/19/2007
Series:	Cambridge Middle East Studies , #15
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	310
Sales rank:	1,088,606
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Eugene L. Rogan is University Lecturer in the Modern History of the Middle East and a Fellow of St Antony's College, University of Oxford. He is the author of Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire (1999) and editor of Outside In: On the Margins of the Modern Middle East (2002). He is editor of The Contemporary Middle East series published by Cambridge.

Avi Shlaim is Professor of International Relations and a Fellow of St Antony's College, University of Oxford. He was a British Academy Research Professor in 2003–6 and he was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 2006. His previous publications include War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History (1995), The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (2000) and Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace (2008).

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition; Introduction; 1. The Palestinians and 1948: the underlying causes of failure Rashid Khaldi; 2. Revisiting the Palestinian exodus of 1948 Benny Morris; 3. The Druze and the birth of Israel Laila Parsons; 4. Israel and the Arab coalition in 1948 Avi Shlaim; 5. Jordan and 1948: the persistence of an official history Eugene L. Rogan; 6. Iraq and the 1948 war: mirror of Iraq's disorder Charles Tripp; 7. Egypt and the 1948 war: internal conflict and regional ambition Fawaz A. Gerges; 8. Syria and the Palestine War: fighting King 'Abdullah's 'Greater Syria Plan' Joshua Landis; 9. Collusion across the Litani? Lebanon and the 1948 war Matthew Hughes; 10. Saudi Arabia and the 1948 Palestine War: beyond official history Madawi Al-Rasheed; 11. Afterword: the consequences of 1948 Edward W. Said.

Editorial Reviews

'The result is a book which is rich in new material and new insights and which enhances considerably our understanding of the historical roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict.' The Middle East

' ... a scholarly, readable volume that will provoke more debate ...'. Reviews in History

'This stimulating guide to the complex political and military topography of the 1948 war sets new, rigorous standards for subsequent scholars, and should be required reading for anyone who needs to understand what the whole Arab-Israeli business is about.' Contemporary Review

'... a cogent and comprehensive work on the central event in the Middle East in the year 1948 ... The War for Palestine demonstrates a dedication to empirical research and a determination to draw independent conclusions'. English Historical Review

'This volume presents important and original scholarship on the 1948 war ... It succeeds in bringing together historians from different backgrounds and demonstrates their ability to communicate and jointly challenge historical myths.' American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences

'This critical look at internal factors on the Arab side is most welcome in order to understand the events of 1948.' Journal of Peace Research

From the Publisher

More than half a century has passed since the end of the 1948 Palestine War. The war, which the Israelis call the "War of Independence" and the Palestinians refer to as "the disaster," has been the subject of passionate public debate and numerous scholarly writings in recent years. The official Israeli version of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem has been challenged by, among other people, a group of Israeli scholars who are variably called the "new historians" or the "revisionists." In this edited volume, Rogan and Shlaim, two prominent scholars of the modern Middle East at the University of Oxford, have brought together leading Israeli revisionist historians with noted Arab and Western scholars to explain the historical and contemporary significance of the 1948 War from various perspectives. In addition to the editors themselves, contributors to this erudite and immensely informative volume include Rashid Khalidi, Benny Morris, Charles Tripp, Joshua Landis, Laila Parsons, Edward Said, and Fawaz Gerges. Their general consensus is that the Palestinian refugee problem resulted not from voluntary flight but from the specific policies of Zionist authorities during the creation of the state of Israel. Highly recommended for public and demic libraries. Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, AL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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