Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

The intense emotions generally aroused by this conflict are avoided here in a remarkably even-handed analysis, ideal for undergraduates as well as the lay reader, and now supplemented with photos, original documents for each chapter, and updated to include the second Oslo Accord of 1995 and talks through the year 2000. Smith (Middle East history, U. of Arizona) holds that a better understanding of the conflict is achieved when its historical background is known. To this end, the text provides an overview of Palestine's earliest history, then devotes chapters to Ottoman society, the origins of Zionism, WWI and the peace settlements that followed, the British Mandate, WWII and the creation of the state of Israel. The remaining half of the book details the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflict. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)