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stevenyenzer's review
3.0
Does what it promises--provides a very brief overview of the conflict without assuming any prior knowledge. As someone who was totally ignorant, I appreciated that, and I look forward to learning more in a longer format.
catronky's review against another edition
4.0
For someone who knew very little about the conflict, I feel this book gave me a solid understanding of the history. My copy only went to 2007 and I'd love to learn about the current events through the writing of this author.
emielste's review
4.0
It's hard to judge the quality of an introductory book (especially on a contested topic such as this) but I enjoyed the occasionally informal register, factitious summaries (though the chapter full ineffective of Madrid and Camp David Agreements is a tough sell), and concise but complete overview. The book made me feel much more confident about the facts and their implications without pushing toward any one narrative. It also opens up new windows for further reading.
jessreads82's review
4.0
With so much in the media regarding this issue, I can never figure out what the real issues are that lead to this conflict--so I was looking for a balanced history of the region. This book provides a great introduction to the issues, with the history going back thousands of years. At times I felt like the book was too concise, especially in regards to more recent events. It was also interesting that the author portrayed Israel in a much different way than the US media tends to.
All in all, I recommend this book to anyone looking for basic information on this issue.
All in all, I recommend this book to anyone looking for basic information on this issue.
thefrogsbif's review
5.0
A really clear and comprehensible overview of the conflict. You’d obviously need to add some extra reading on top to bring yourself up to date but it’s a great read to get acquainted for the 40 odd first years of the conflict.