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![A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.9.4)
A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion
816
by Tom Segev, Haim Watzman (Translator)
Tom Segev
![A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.9.4)
A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion
816
by Tom Segev, Haim Watzman (Translator)
Tom Segev
Hardcover
$40.00
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Overview
2019 National Jewish Book Award Finalist
"[A] fascinating biography . . . a masterly portrait of a titanic yet unfulfilled man . . . this is a gripping study of power, and the loneliness of power." —The Economist
As the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion long ago secured his reputation as a leading figure of the twentieth century. Determined from an early age to create a Jewish state, he thereupon took control of the Zionist movement, declared Israel’s independence, and navigated his country through wars, controversies and remarkable achievements. And yet Ben-Gurion remains an enigma—he could be driven and imperious, or quizzical and confounding.
In this definitive biography, Israel’s leading journalist-historian Tom Segev uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around the man. Segev’s probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion’s relentless activity across six decades. Along the way, Segev reveals for the first time Ben-Gurion’s secret negotiations with the British on the eve of Israel’s independence, his willingness to countenance the forced transfer of Arab neighbors, his relative indifference to Jerusalem, and his occasional “nutty moments”—from UFO sightings to plans for Israel to acquire territory in South America. Segev also reveals that Ben-Gurion first heard about the Holocaust from a Palestinian Arab acquaintance, and explores his tempestuous private life, including the testimony of four former lovers.
The result is a full and startling portrait of a man who sought a state “at any cost”—at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev’s Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor who belongs in the company of Lenin or Churchill—a twentieth-century leader whose iron will and complex temperament left a complex and contentious legacy that we still reckon with today.
"[A] fascinating biography . . . a masterly portrait of a titanic yet unfulfilled man . . . this is a gripping study of power, and the loneliness of power." —The Economist
As the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion long ago secured his reputation as a leading figure of the twentieth century. Determined from an early age to create a Jewish state, he thereupon took control of the Zionist movement, declared Israel’s independence, and navigated his country through wars, controversies and remarkable achievements. And yet Ben-Gurion remains an enigma—he could be driven and imperious, or quizzical and confounding.
In this definitive biography, Israel’s leading journalist-historian Tom Segev uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around the man. Segev’s probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion’s relentless activity across six decades. Along the way, Segev reveals for the first time Ben-Gurion’s secret negotiations with the British on the eve of Israel’s independence, his willingness to countenance the forced transfer of Arab neighbors, his relative indifference to Jerusalem, and his occasional “nutty moments”—from UFO sightings to plans for Israel to acquire territory in South America. Segev also reveals that Ben-Gurion first heard about the Holocaust from a Palestinian Arab acquaintance, and explores his tempestuous private life, including the testimony of four former lovers.
The result is a full and startling portrait of a man who sought a state “at any cost”—at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev’s Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor who belongs in the company of Lenin or Churchill—a twentieth-century leader whose iron will and complex temperament left a complex and contentious legacy that we still reckon with today.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780374112646 |
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Publisher: | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Publication date: | 09/24/2019 |
Pages: | 816 |
Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.80(d) |
About the Author
Tom Segev is among Israel’s leading journalists and historians. His works include The Seventh Million; 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East; Simon Wiesenthal; and One Palestine, Complete (chosen one of ten best books of 2000 by The New York Times).
Haim Watzman is a Jerusalem-based writer, journalist, and translator. He is the author, most recently, of Necessary Stories, a collection of short fiction. His previous books are Company C: An American’s Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel (FSG, 2005) and A Crack in the Earth: A Journey Up Israel’s Rift Valley (FSG, 2007).
Haim Watzman is a Jerusalem-based writer, journalist, and translator. He is the author, most recently, of Necessary Stories, a collection of short fiction. His previous books are Company C: An American’s Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel (FSG, 2005) and A Crack in the Earth: A Journey Up Israel’s Rift Valley (FSG, 2007).
Table of Contents
Introduction: In the Footsteps of history 3
Part I The Road to Power
1 The Vow 17
2 Scroll of Fire 33
3 Birds 54
4 Foreign Labor 69
5 Seiera 85
6 Deportation 100
7 New World 124
8 Authority 151
9 Scandals 183
10 Unification 211
11 Conversations 241
12 Winds of War 274
13 Zionist Alertness 303
14 Holocaust and Schism 334
Part II The Limits of Power
15 Maps 365
16 Partition 396
17 War 427
18 New Israelis 460
19 Anxieties 489
20 The Nasty Business 523
21 The Second Round 551
22 Yes to the Old Man 585
23 The Lavon Affair 615
24 Twilight 639
25 Another Kind of Jew 661
Notes 685
Bibliography 753
Acknowledgments 771
Index 775
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