A book read for the World Citizen Challenge. Well-researched if a bit dry. It is about the cities of Jaffa and Tel Aviv before and after the British mandate and the creation of the state of Israel.
This is not a political book but one that follows the lives of six families who have lived in and around Jaffa for the last 100 years. Lebor meets many family members and listens to their histories. He records these stories in an open and balance way. He shows the fear and corruption on all sides.
A timely read, particularly with the recent war against Palestine. It is sad to think of these people, any people, separated by religion and culture making the same mistakes over and over, not really listening to each other.
I have my own political views on Isreal/Palentine and will not discuss them here. Learning the unbiased history of this area is extremely important for all of us.
Other reviews:
3 responses so far ↓
Eva // 02/07/2009 at 11:10 pm |
That’s interesting you found it dry! I’m about to publish my review for this one as well, and I thought it was compelling. But then, since I studied international relations in college, I probably have a different yardstick for interesting vs. dry.
City of Oranges (thoughts) « A Striped Armchair // 02/21/2009 at 4:22 am |
[...] I think this would be a great place to start for anyone who wants to know more about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as a good choice for people looking for an on-the-ground account. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to keep track of who belongs to what family (that’s why there’s that list in the beginning of the book!), but LeBor’s writing style is clear and vivid. This is definitely page-turning nonfiction, packed with new knowledge but accessible to any intelligent layperson. I highly recommend it, and I’ll be trying out more LeBor in the future. (And you can check out in-print reviews on LeBor’s website. Also, another World Citizen participant, Gavin reviewed this one last month.) [...]
Sarah // 04/24/2009 at 10:03 am |
I read this book because of your and Eva’s reviews! I enjoyed it, although I thought that it was actually somewhat political and was not completely unbiased. I agree that it is a timely book and that it is very important to learn the (mostly) unbiased history of the region. Here’s my full review.