Genesis, 1948

First published in 1970. With an introduction by Yitzhak Rabin (from the 1992 edition).Includes 32 pages of black and white photos. This monumental book tells the full story of the first Arab-Israeli war and the birth of the State of Israel. Based largely on some 1,000 interviews with participants of all nations, it describes the important military and diplomatic events from battles to clandestine operations, with anecdotes and glimpses of great figures and of the ordinary people who did the fighting - concentration camp survivors, sabras, foreign volunteers and Arabs from throughout the Middle East. This is the great conflict that both set the stage for the present-day Israeli nation and is so crucial to the understanding of the state.