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My Promised Land
- The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
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Publisher's summary
New York Times best seller
Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review and The Economist
Winner of the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
An authoritative and deeply personal narrative history of the State of Israel, by one of the most influential journalists writing about the Middle East today.
Not since Thomas L. Friedman's groundbreaking From Beirut to Jerusalem has a book captured the essence and the beating heart of the Middle East as keenly and dynamically as My Promised Land. Facing unprecedented internal and external pressures, Israel today is at a moment of existential crisis. Ari Shavit draws on interviews, historical documents, private diaries, and letters, as well as his own family's story, illuminating the pivotal moments of the Zionist century to tell a riveting narrative that is larger than the sum of its parts: both personal and national, both deeply human and of profound historical dimension.
We meet Shavit’s great-grandfather, a British Zionist who, in 1897, visited the Holy Land on a Thomas Cook tour and understood that it was the way of the future for his people; the idealist young farmer who bought land from his Arab neighbor in the 1920s to grow the Jaffa oranges that would create Palestine’s booming economy; the visionary youth group leader who, in the 1940s, transformed Masada from the neglected ruins of an extremist sect into a powerful symbol for Zionism; the Palestinian who as a young man in 1948 was driven with his family from his home during the expulsion from Lydda; the immigrant orphans of Europe’s Holocaust, who took on menial work and focused on raising their children to become the leaders of the new state; the pragmatic engineer who was instrumental in developing Israel’s nuclear program in the 1960s, in the only interview he ever gave; the zealous religious Zionists who started the settler movement in the 1970s; the dot-com entrepreneurs and young men and women behind Tel-Aviv’s booming club scene; and today’s architects of Israel’s foreign policy with Iran, whose nuclear threat looms ominously over the tiny country.
As it examines the complexities and contradictions of the Israeli condition, My Promised Land asks difficult but important questions: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? Can Israel survive? Culminating with an analysis of the issues and threats that Israel is currently facing, My Promised Land uses the defining events of the past to shed new light on the present. The result is a landmark portrait of a small, vibrant country living on the edge, whose identity and presence play a crucial role in today’s global political landscape.
Praise for My Promised Land
“This book will sweep you up in its narrative force and not let go of you until it is done. [Shavit’s] accomplishment is so unlikely, so total...that it makes you believe anything is possible, even, God help us, peace in the Middle East.” (Simon Schama, Financial Times)
“[A] must-read book.” (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times)
“Important and powerful...the least tendentious book about Israel I have ever read.” (Leon Wieseltier, The New York Times Book Review)
“Spellbinding...Shavit’s prophetic voice carries lessons that all sides need to hear.” (The Economist)
“One of the most nuanced and challenging books written on Israel in years.” (The Wall Street Journal)
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Critic reviews
“Shavit's provocative book avoids the clichés typical of some works about the Middle East, and the audio version benefits from Paul Boehmer's superb presentation.” (AudioFile Magazine)
“The most extraordinary book that I’ve read on [Israel] since Amos Elon’s book called The Israelis, and that was published in the late sixties.” (David Remnick)
“Shavit is a master storyteller. [His] retelling of history jars us out of our familiar retrospections, reminds us (and we do need reminders) that there are historical reasons why Israel is a country on the edge.... Required reading for both the left and the right.” (The Jewish Week)
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Arab and Jew
- Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
- By: David K. Shipler
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 27 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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David Shipler delves into the origins of the prejudices of Jews and Arabs that have been intensified by war, terrorism, and nationalism. Focusing on the diverse cultures that exist side by side in Israel and Israeli-controlled territories, Shipler examines the process of indoctrination that begins in schools; he discusses the far ranging effects of socioeconomic differences, historical conflicts between Islam and Judaism, attitudes about the Holocaust, and much more.
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'Arab and Jew' Needs a Good Editor
- By Robert W. Gillespie on 10-23-03
By: David K. Shipler
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Children of the Stone
- The Power of Music in a Hard Land
- By: Sandy Tolan
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Children of the Stone chronicles Ramzi's journey - from stone thrower to music student to school founder - and shows how through his love of music he created something lasting and beautiful in a land torn by violence and war. This is a story about the power of music, but also about freedom and conflict, determination and vision.
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Gripping. Beautifully written true story of Israel, Palestine
- By margot on 08-18-15
By: Sandy Tolan
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Fractured Lands
- How the Arab World Came Apart
- By: Scott Anderson
- Narrated by: Scott Anderson
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2011 a series of antigovernment uprisings shook the Middle East and North Africa in what would become known as the Arab Spring. Few could predict that these convulsions, initially hailed in the West as a triumph of democracy, would give way to brutal civil war, the terrors of the Islamic State, and a global refugee crisis. But, as New York Times best-selling author Scott Anderson shows, the seeds of catastrophe had been sown long before. In this gripping account, Anderson examines the myriad complex causes of the region's profound unraveling.
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Timely and a must to listen to!
- By becky robbins on 05-05-17
By: Scott Anderson
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A Thousand Hills
- Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It
- By: Stephen Kinzer
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Kagame grew up as a wretched refugee. He and a group of comrades, determined to force their way back home after a generation of exile, designed one of the most audacious covert operations in the history of clandestine war. Then, after taking power, they amazed the world by stabilizing and reviving their devastated country.
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Best Most Comprehensive Work on Rwanda
- By Greg on 07-30-10
By: Stephen Kinzer
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The Long Hangover
- Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past
- By: Shaun Walker
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Long Hangover, Shaun Walker provides new insight into contemporary Russia and its search for a new identity, telling the story through the country's troubled relationship with its Soviet past. Walker not only explains Vladimir Putin's goals and the government's official manipulations of history, but also focuses on ordinary Russians and their motivations. He charts how Putin raised victory in World War II to the status of a national founding myth in the search for a unifying force to heal a divided country, and shows how dangerous the ramifications of this have been.
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Fascinating and fair book on Putin's Russia
- By MyPublicName on 02-16-18
By: Shaun Walker
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A Rainbow in the Night
- The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa
- By: Dominique Lapierre
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1652 a small group of Dutch farmers landed on the southernmost tip of Africa. Sent by the powerful Dutch India Company, their mission was simply to grow vegetables and supply ships rounding the cape. The colonists, however, were convinced by their strict Calvinist faith that they were among God's "Elect," chosen to rule over the continent. Their saga - bloody, ferocious, and fervent - would culminate three centuries later in one of the greatest tragedies of history.
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Informative, gripping, incredible
- By Gregory E Benoit on 03-20-15
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War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
- By: Chris Hedges
- Narrated by: Chris Hedges
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societies, corrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting the most basic human desires. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.
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Powerful, perceptive, personal
- By Cx30 on 08-08-07
By: Chris Hedges
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Prague Winter
- A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
- By: Madeleine Albright
- Narrated by: Madeleine Albright
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Before Madeleine Albright turned twelve, her life was shaken by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia—the country where she was born—the Battle of Britain, the near total destruction of European Jewry, the Allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War. Albright's experiences, and those of her family, provide a lens through which to view the most tumultuous dozen years in modern history.
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History from a Personal Perspective
- By Jeanette Finan on 02-22-13
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A Continent for the Taking
- The Tragedy and Hope of Africa
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: Mirron E. Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In A Continent for the Taking, Howard W. French, a veteran correspondent for The New York Times, gives a compelling firsthand account of some of Africa's most devastating recent history. While he captures the tragedies that have repeatedly befallen Africa's peoples, French also opens our eyes to the immense possibility that lies in Africa's complexity, diversity, and myriad cultural strengths.
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A story to pay your attention to
- By George on 04-30-13
By: Howard W. French
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Night Draws Near
- Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War
- By: Anthony Shadid
- Narrated by: Anthony Shadid
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Abridged
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Determined to offer an unfiltered version of events, the Washington Post's Anthony Shadid was neither embedded with soldiers nor briefed by politicians. Because he is fluent in Arabic, Shadid, an Arab-American born and raised in Oklahoma, was able to actually disappear into the divided, dangerous worlds of Iraq. Day by day, as American dreams clashed with Arab notions of justice, he pieced together the human story of ordinary Iraqis weathering the terrible dislocations and tragedies of war.
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Too little, too late
- By Kindle Customer on 03-23-09
By: Anthony Shadid
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A Rage for Order
- The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS
- By: Robert Worth
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Robert Worth
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
In 2011 a wave of revolution spread through the Middle East as protesters demanded an end to tyranny, corruption, and economic decay. From Egypt to Yemen, a generation of young Arabs insisted on a new ethos of common citizenship. Five years later their utopian aspirations have taken on a darker cast as old divides reemerge and deepen. In one country after another, brutal terrorists and dictators have risen to the top.
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What a mess!
- By Art Guzman on 01-19-17
By: Robert Worth
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The Trigger
- Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War
- By: Tim Butcher
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The Trigger tells the story of a young man who changed the world forever. It focuses on the drama of the incident itself by following Princip's journey. By retracing his steps from the feudal frontier village of his birth, through the mountains of the northern Balkans to the great plain city of Belgrade, and ultimately to Sarajevo, Tim Butcher illuminates our understanding of Princip and makes discoveries about him that have eluded historians for 100 years.
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Good, but not what I was looking for
- By Kendra on 07-08-14
By: Tim Butcher
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The People's Republic of Amnesia
- Tiananmen Revisited
- By: Louisa Lim
- Narrated by: Louisa Lim
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In The People's Republic of Amnesia, NPR correspondent Louisa Lim charts how the events of June 4 changed China, and how China changed the events of June 4 by rewriting its own history. Lim reveals new details about those fateful days, including how one of the country's most senior politicians lost a family member to an army bullet, as well as the inside story of the young soldiers sent to clear Tiananmen Square.
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great book and recording
- By Robert Peters on 06-14-16
By: Louisa Lim
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Fracture
- Life and Culture in the West, 1918-1938
- By: Philipp Blom
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Story
When the Great War ended in 1918, the West was broken. Religious faith, patriotism, and the belief in human progress had all been called into question by the mass carnage experienced by both sides. Shell-shocked and traumatized, the West faced a world it no longer recognized: The old order had collapsed, replaced by an age of machines. The world hurtled forward on gears and crankshafts, and terrifying new ideologies arose from the wreckage of past belief.
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Lots of good trivia information
- By Jean on 07-23-15
By: Philipp Blom
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We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
- Stories from Rwanda
- By: Philip Gourevitch
- Narrated by: Philip Gourevitch
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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An unforgettable firsthand account of a people's response to genocide and what it tells us about humanity. This remarkable audiobook chronicles what has happened in Rwanda and neighboring states since 1994, when the Rwandan government called on everyone in the Hutu majority to murder everyone in the Tutsi minority.
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Things you'd never imagine
- By LEE on 12-27-19
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From Beirut to Jerusalem
- By: Thomas L. Friedman
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 25 hrs and 41 mins
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One of the most thought-provoking books ever written about the Middle East, From Beirut to Jerusalem remains vital to our understanding of this complex and volatile region of the world. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman drew upon his 10 years of experience reporting from Lebanon and Israel to write this now-classic work of journalism.
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Games
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Israel
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Israel is a tiny state, and yet it has captured the world's attention, aroused its imagination, and, lately, been the object of its opprobrium. Why does such a small country speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future? We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel's people and the questions and conflicts, the hopes and desires, that have animated their conversations and actions.
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Excellent, mildly but honestly biased, terrible narration
- By Schaq on 04-01-17
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Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
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Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbors in this taut and provocative book, empathizing with Palestinian suffering and longing for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes.
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Israel 101 - but for Jews
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The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
- A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017
- By: Rashid Khalidi
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age.
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Thoroughly Researched and Evidence-Based, but...
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Israel
- A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth
- By: Noa Tishby
- Narrated by: Noa Tishby
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Overall
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Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby.
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I hope this book will help
- By Wayne on 05-08-21
By: Noa Tishby
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Enemies and Neighbors
- Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017
- By: Ian Black
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Enemies and Neighbors, Ian Black, who has spent over three decades covering events in the Middle East and is currently a fellow at the London School of Economics, offers a major new history of the Arab-Zionist conflict from 1917 to today. Laying the historical groundwork in the final decades of the Ottoman Era, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in the Holy Land, Black draws on a wide range of sources - from declassified documents to oral histories to his own vivid on-the-ground reporting - to recreate the major milestones in the most polarizing conflict of the modern age from both sides.
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Decent historical compilation, poor framing
- By Dan Harris on 07-08-20
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From Beirut to Jerusalem
- By: Thomas L. Friedman
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- Length: 25 hrs and 41 mins
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One of the most thought-provoking books ever written about the Middle East, From Beirut to Jerusalem remains vital to our understanding of this complex and volatile region of the world. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman drew upon his 10 years of experience reporting from Lebanon and Israel to write this now-classic work of journalism.
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Games
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Israel
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Israel is a tiny state, and yet it has captured the world's attention, aroused its imagination, and, lately, been the object of its opprobrium. Why does such a small country speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future? We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel's people and the questions and conflicts, the hopes and desires, that have animated their conversations and actions.
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Excellent, mildly but honestly biased, terrible narration
- By Schaq on 04-01-17
By: Daniel Gordis
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Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
- By: Yossi Klein Halevi
- Narrated by: Yossi Klein Halevi
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbors in this taut and provocative book, empathizing with Palestinian suffering and longing for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes.
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Israel 101 - but for Jews
- By GoingGoingGone... on 06-13-18
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The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
- A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017
- By: Rashid Khalidi
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction
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Overall
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Performance
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Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age.
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Thoroughly Researched and Evidence-Based, but...
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Israel
- A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth
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- Narrated by: Noa Tishby
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
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Overall
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Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby.
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I hope this book will help
- By Wayne on 05-08-21
By: Noa Tishby
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Enemies and Neighbors
- Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017
- By: Ian Black
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Enemies and Neighbors, Ian Black, who has spent over three decades covering events in the Middle East and is currently a fellow at the London School of Economics, offers a major new history of the Arab-Zionist conflict from 1917 to today. Laying the historical groundwork in the final decades of the Ottoman Era, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in the Holy Land, Black draws on a wide range of sources - from declassified documents to oral histories to his own vivid on-the-ground reporting - to recreate the major milestones in the most polarizing conflict of the modern age from both sides.
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Decent historical compilation, poor framing
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Israel and Palestine, 2019 Edition
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- By: Ian Carroll
- Narrated by: Alastair Cameron
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Israel and Palestine: The Complete History seeks to explain the overall story of Israeli and Palestinian tensions and divisions in the region. Indeed, without properly understanding the full history of the area, it is impossible to understand the current situation. In this book, author Ian Carroll takes the listener back to the very beginning of the conflict some 4,000 years ago, then moves through the major events of the Middle Ages and 20th century, and brings us right up to the present day, documenting the significant events that have happened along the way.
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One sides, telling half of the truth
- By Ori on 05-27-21
By: Ian Carroll
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The Lemon Tree
- By: Sandy Tolan
- Narrated by: Sandy Tolan
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1967, not long after the Six-Day War, three young Arab men ventured into the town of Ramle, in what is now Jewish Israel. They were cousins, on a pilgrimage to see their childhood homes; their families had been driven out of Palestine nearly 20 years earlier. One cousin had a door slammed in his face, and another found his old house had been converted into a school. But the third, Bashir Al-Khairi, was met at the door by a young woman called Dalia, who invited them in.
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Steeping The Lemon Tree
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By: Sandy Tolan
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Palestine
- A Four Thousand Year History
- By: Nur Masalha
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This rich and magisterial work traces Palestine's millennia-old heritage, uncovering cultures and societies of astounding depth and complexity that stretch back to the very beginnings of recorded history.
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Comprehensive and valuable
- By Buretto on 01-31-22
By: Nur Masalha
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Palestine 1936
- The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict
- By: Oren Kessler
- Narrated by: Shawn K. Jain
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In spring 1936, the Holy Land erupted in a rebellion that targeted both the local Jewish community and the British Mandate authorities. The Great Arab Revolt would last three years, cost thousands of lives, and cast the trajectory for the Middle East conflict. The revolt was the crucible in which Palestinian identity coalesced, uniting all in a single struggle for independence. Yet the rebellion would ultimately turn on itself. British forces' aggressive counterinsurgency took care of the rest, finally quashing the uprising on the eve of World War II.
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Terrific history but with a perplexing gap.
- By Gregg M. Mashberg on 05-07-24
By: Oren Kessler
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The Genius of Israel
- The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World
- By: Dan Senor, Saul Singer
- Narrated by: Dan Senor
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Why do Israelis have among the world’s highest life expectancies and lowest rates of “deaths of despair” from suicide and substance abuse? Why is Israel’s population young and growing while all other wealthy democracies are aging and shrinking? How can it be that Israel, according to a United Nations ranking, is the fourth happiest nation in the world? Why do Israelis tend to look to the future with hope, optimism, and purpose while the rest of the West struggles with an epidemic of loneliness, teen depression, and social decline?
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The richness of the Israeli culture and the brilliance of the IDF.
- By Jandee Camozzi on 12-06-23
By: Dan Senor, and others
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Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- By: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
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Great overview of Middle East troubles
- By Patrick Marstall on 07-23-06
By: Michael B. Oren
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They Called Me a Lioness
- A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom
- By: Ahed Tamimi, Dena Takruri
- Narrated by: Dena Takruri
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ahed Tamimi is a world-renowned Palestinian activist, born and raised in the small West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, which became a center of the resistance to Israeli occupation when an illegal, Jewish-only settlement blocked off its community spring. Tamimi came of age participating in nonviolent demonstrations against this action and the occupation at large. Her global renown reached an apex in December 2017, when, at sixteen years old, she was filmed slapping an Israeli soldier who refused to leave her front yard. The video went viral, and Tamimi was arrested.
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Powerful
- By Mary on 03-30-24
By: Ahed Tamimi, and others
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Three Worlds
- Memoirs of an Arab-Jew
- By: Avi Shlaim
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
In July 1950, Avi Shlaim, only five, and his family were forced into exile, fleeing their beloved Iraq to the new state of Israel. Today the once flourishing Jewish community of Iraq, at one time numbering over 130,000 and tracing its history back 2,600 years, has all but vanished.
By: Avi Shlaim
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On Palestine
- By: Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappe
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Operation Protective Edge, Israel's 2014 assault on Gaza, left thousands of Palestinians dead and cleared the way for another Israeli land grab. The need to stand in solidarity with Palestinians has never been greater. Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky, two leading voices in the struggle to liberate Palestine, discuss the road ahead for Palestinians and how the international community can pressure Israel to end its human rights abuses against the people of Palestine.
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Excellent Introduction/101 Level Book
- By Anonymous User on 10-24-23
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
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Eighteen Days in October
- The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East
- By: Uri Kaufman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
October 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned in disgrace, and a 9/11-style commission investigated the "debacle." But, argues Uri Kaufman, from the perspective of a half century, the War can be seen as a pivotal victory for Israel.
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gripping history
- By Alex Troy on 11-12-23
By: Uri Kaufman
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Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Martin Bunton
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
The conflict between Palestine and Israel is one of the most highly publicized and bitter struggles in history. In this accessible and stimulating Very Short Introduction, Martin Bunton clearly explains the history of the problem, reducing it to its very essence - a modern territorial contest between two nations and one geographical territory.Providing a clear and fair exploration of the main issues, Bunton explores not only the historical basis of the conflict, but also looks at how and why partition has been so difficult and how efforts to restore peace continue today.
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Even-handed.
- By Tom Judge on 11-15-23
By: Martin Bunton
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The Thirty-Year Genocide
- Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924
- By: Benny Morris, Dror Ze'evi, Claire Bloom
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 21 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Between 1894 and 1924, three waves of violence swept across Anatolia, targeting the region's Christian minorities, who had previously accounted for 20 percent of the population. By 1924 the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks had been reduced to two percent. Most historians have treated these waves as distinct, isolated events, and successive Turkish governments presented them as an unfortunate sequence of accidents. This is the first account to show that the three were actually part of a single, continuing, and intentional effort to wipe out Anatolia's Christian population.
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Pay Close Attention to This Stunning Achievement
- By J.Brock on 06-25-20
By: Benny Morris, and others
What listeners say about My Promised Land
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Brilliantly Captured Content - No Words Are Wasted
What did you love best about My Promised Land?
This book shares comprehensive research, opinion and facts, weaving together perspectives from left wing views, right wing views and everything in between. Ari leaves out the sugar coating. It provides raw truths on past, present and the unknown. The book does not dance around white elephants on conflict, Israelis, Iranian global nuclear threat, Palestinians, politics, economy and international opinions. After each chapter, I was armed with information I was not ready to deal with. Brilliantly captured content.
What was one of the most memorable moments of My Promised Land?
Access to the people he interviews for the book. He writes to uncover facts, truths and is not afraid to ask uncomfortable questions and he actually reports his findings. In every chapter I am shocked on what he shares. Ari's journalist gift, peacenik beginnings, birthplace and his family background, puts him in a unique position to convey such powerful inside stories to the reader. His questioning comes from a deep place of understanding, frustration, fear and triumph.
What about Paul Boehmer’s performance did you like?
Just loved his voice. The perfect cast. Sample audio does not do it justice. Paul begins the chapters speaking fast and as the depth of the stories progress, there is sarcasm, despair and delight in his voice.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes, I was almost in tears listening to the harsh beginnings, suffering and despair. Towards the end, my heart fell into my stomach. The ending leaves you in a pensive thought, I wanted at least one more chapter.
Any additional comments?
He explains brilliantly how and why the middle east conflict and life is complex and where the hope for peace stands. Forget about Self Help books - listen to this and you will learn about decades of hope, anguish, luck, faith and courage from both Israelis and Palestinians.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Edgar
- 03-25-16
Comprehensive and touching
The book covers a wide span of the country's history, leveraging personal stories to make history more real.
It nicely covers several aspects of history providing different points of view, enabling the reader to develop an own opinion.
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- Mindy
- 03-20-14
Terrific
What does Paul Boehmer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Mr. Boehmer read the book as if he wrote it. He spoke with a level of passion and urgency this book truly deserves.
Any additional comments?
What a terrific book. Ari Shavit doesn't just tell a factual story about Israel's history and the Arab-Israeli crisis, he tells us an emotional story through his and his family's eyes, the eyes of Arabs, holocaust survivors, and young Jewish Israelis, the latter of which may be oblivious to the true tenuousness of their modern and safe lifestyle. I went into this book with animosity toward Israel's treatment of neighboring Palestinians, and though my disdain remains, I did also leave with a great deal more compassion, understanding and concern for Israel's Jews.
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- Sharon
- 01-08-15
A Must Read For Anyone Fascinated by the Miracle o
If you could sum up My Promised Land in three words, what would they be?
miracle
challenging
dynamic
Who was your favorite character and why?
Ari Shavit, the author, who pulls together the story of modern Israel from a multidimensional perspective and leaves the reader with a sense of excitement, fascination and confidence.
What does Paul Boehmer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Paul Boehmer reads the story with enthusiasm, sincerity and just the right intonations.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes, when author Shavit brings all the varied currents he has elucidated, together, revealing the incredible miracle of modern day Israel and Israelis, he brought tears of admiration and incredible pride, to my eyes.
Any additional comments?
I wish that everyone would read this wonderful book, and especially for anyone who is Jewish , Ari Shavit writes with such depth and intelligence, making sense of a highly complex and challenging situation, and he does so in an interesting and easily readable way. At times his writing is sheer poetry. If you want to gain a real insight into the Israeli psyche, you can do no better than to read Ari Shavit's book: Israel, The Promise.
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- Judy Boros
- 05-29-24
Compelling and deeply real
With his gorgeous prose, Shavit captures the tragic, tumultuous, vibrant story of a nation on the edge, the story of a people intent on clutching life from death. It’s a story whose end we do not yet know, especially now as Israel faces existential decisions on what price it will pay for nationhood. Either Israel ends the occupation or the occupation will end Israel, Shavit writes. Will the Jewish state live by its moral compass or allow nationalism, and militarism to destroy its soul as it wages a war on the Palestinian people. It is a question Shavit is not afraid to ask. Neither should any Israeli or Jew in the diaspora.
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- James
- 10-13-14
Too important to be ruined by its narration!
Is there anything you would change about this book?
I've withheld comment until I had a chance to listen to some samples of Paul Boehmer's narration of other works. In other contexts, he has a terrific voice and style. But this was a mistake - the faux-Israeli accent makes it almost unbearable to listen to, and undermines the content of this important book. As I was listening in my car, I almost had to pull over because I was laughing so hard at the pronunciation of "1936" - the "theerrty" so far back in the throat I thought he would choke. Over and over again. This during the "Arab Uprisings" - not the intended effect, I'm sure.
The irony is that the author himself speaks far better English than the narrator - a richly-intoned, articulate, British-inflected voice.
What did you like best about this story?
If all Israelis - and Palestinians - had a sensibility akin to Shavit, the two nations would surely find a way to coexist peacefully. He holds the remarkable achievement of the Jews in Palestine in perfect tension with its tragic impact on the Palestinian people. Essential reading on the history of this land.
How could the performance have been better?
See above. Really unfortunate. In that this is clearly a reaction many have had, the publisher should strongly consider re-doing the recording.
Do you think My Promised Land needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No, just a new recording - same narrator, sans accent. Please consider it - this book is too important to be ruined by its narration.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Jeff Lacy
- 01-28-21
Personal and illuminating
Ari Shavit provides, with great clarity, a very personal assessment of the history, people and present state of Israel—drawn from primary research, and many interviews of the original players of the events that impacted and impacting Israel politically, socially, militarily, economically. In addition to being a worthwhile read, the Audible performance by Paul Boehmer is superior.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 06-16-14
ISRAEL
“My Promised Land” is a masterpiece of modern history, a story of Israel told by an Israeli.
Ari Shavit reveals intertwined truths about Israel and its place in the world. He explores a one-state and two-state solution for peace in the Middle East. Shavit acknowledges Israeli’ ambivalence about Jewish settlement, occupation, and Palestinian ghettoization; Shavit explains how Jewish experience in WWII pervades Israeli’ consciousness. It binds the country together and tears it apart. The binding together comes from the holocaust’s common ancestral experience. The tearing apart comes from Jewish empathy for uprooting and isolating indigenous Palestinians.
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- Benjamin
- 08-20-14
A must read to understand Israel and its politics.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
It is a great class in history and politics of a nation very hard to explain.
Still some things are left unexplained but this clears a lot of misunderstandings and assumptions.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Not a NOVEL
What does Paul Boehmer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
A good read
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
NOT A NOVEL
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- Rob C
- 03-15-15
Israel explained
This book manages to articulate many of the ideas I have towards Israel, its founding, Zionism, Israeli history and society. A superb analysis of the past, present and future of the Jewish people. The book provides a very useful tool kit to understand the region and the eternal conflict of the land. Entertaining, thoughtful, complete.
This is the first audio book I've ever listened to and I feel I found a new of learning
Great experience
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