Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History with Documents |
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Charles D. Smith
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Pages: 541 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0230521290
Pub: Palgrave Macmillan
Pub date: 2007-04-13
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 254316
Reader Reviews:
a decent starting point (0/0 people found this helpful)
smith provides a very useful history of the conflict in the middle east in terms of its ancient history, origins and more modern issues. usefully, the work has been updated regularly to take account of new developments. perhaps even more usefully, each chapter is accompanied by a timeline of events and extracts from the most relevant documents. the writing is good, not too dense, and the use of maps is also appropriate.
the failings in the work are, perhaps, the lack of objectivity, the pervasive air of hopelessness and, at times, the inability to focus on the role of individuals. i suspect this is a topic where it will always be difficult to satisfy everyone that the account is objective, but others have been more convincing in this regard. thankfully smith does not fall into the trap of some of the revisionist historians of being too self-conscious about his own role (or that of historians in general) in shaping events.
generally i wouldn't suggest this to the casual reader with an interest in history or the region. smith is too sympathetic to the palestinian role in the conflict from 1967 onwards to truly allow the reader to make up their own mind. but, for the student of international relations or history, the individual chapters do provide a decent starting point for leaping into more detailed considerations. i found the chapter on oslo useful, for example, but felt it lacked an understanding of how the various actors had affected the direction of the discussions and also failed to examine well the varying theories for the ultimate failure of the peace process.
still, a very useful work in the right hands.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Asia -> 1900-1945
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Asia -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Academic History
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General AAS
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
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Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
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