arab-israeli wars

booklady · Tue Aug 10, 2010 11:35 am

I am currently on a huge Historical Fiction binge and LOVING it. I am learning so much.

I am looking for some recommendations for good books on the Arab-Israeli wars. There are so many out there and one cannot tell by Amazon's rating system on this sensitive a subject due to religious and political bias by the raters.

I've read some pretty, pretty dry books :shock:

targeted for scholars as opposed to the casual reader. Tough reading but I managed to get through somehow :roll:

.

I thought EXODUS was wonderful Historical Fiction. A departure from the non-fiction accounts but not by very much.

In short, I'm reading Historical Fiction AND non-fiction presently and looking for recommendations for above subject, if any. If not, any recommendations will do - on other LOVED/GREAT and highly recommended HF titles and/or authors. Already have plenty of books by Clavell, Michener and Rutherford in my TBR pile.

Thanks and have a great day!

stahrwe · Tue Aug 10, 2010 12:36 pm

Our Jerusalem by Bertha Spafford Vester is an excellent true account of a family who relocates to Jerusalem after the Chicago fire and becomes involved helping the Palestinians. It is historical and highly interesting and readable.

Our Man in Damascus, is a good true life spy story.

booklady · Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:13 pm

Thanks so much. Will order those 2 from the library. Both sound YUMMY.

Re: the first book, are you referring to the Arab refugees expelled by Israel after the War Of Liberation, 1948? Just curious.

Still open to more suggestions fellow bibliophiles ((Giant toothy grin))

booklady · Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:16 pm

Our man in Damascus! The Eli Cohen story! I didn't recognize the title. AWESOME recommendation.

I've been meaning to read up on that tragedy. That's a Must Read for me. Have you seen the website dedicated to him?

Thanks again.

Off Topic: I am having great difficulty editing my PROFILE.
Where do I go to get explicit instructions on how to perform certain functions? I did one or two things (and I was on my own while doing them) and the results were NOT to my satisfaction.

(I notice that when replying to a post one does not have any ability to underline, use bold font or smilies. That's new and different for me. Just an observation....)

stahrwe · Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:36 pm


	booklady wrote: Thanks so much. Will order those 2 from the library. Both sound YUMMY. Re: the first book, are you referring to the Arab refugees expelled by Israel after the War Of Liberation, 1948? Just curious. Still open to more suggestions fellow bibliophiles ((Giant toothy grin))

Our Jerusalem deals primarily with events near the turn of the 20th century and WWI. The community established by the expatriots found the Palestinians in awful conditions. They established schools, a hospital, various businesses the people could work in, and a refuge for women and children abandoned by their husbands or families. It is not a particulary political book, but you will sense their sypathies are with the people.

booklady · Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:35 pm

I see. Yes, there was a wave of Jews who came to Palestine in the 1880's or so if memory serves. Getting into the nuts and bolts of that particular wave of Jewish immigration would be fantastic reading. I can't wait.

A lot of the peoples and/or tribes in the Middle East were pretty primitive then and even many, many decades later. Sad.

What I'll never understand is how they could be so destitute while producing millions of barrels of oil every day. Does not compute...What I am reading now, in a kind of general way, is what life was like for Israel in the early years after Statehood. Tasty stuff.

Chris OConnor · Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:23 am


	Quote: Where do I go to get explicit instructions on how to perform certain functions.

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	Quote: I notice that when replying to a post one does not have any ability to underline, use bold font or smilies. That's new and different for me. Just an observation....