Thirteen Days in September
Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David
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Narrated by:
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Mark Bramhall
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Lawrence Wright
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By:
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Lawrence Wright
About this listen
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW’ S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
A gripping day-by-day account of the 1978 Camp David conference, when President Jimmy Carter persuaded Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to sign the first peace treaty in the modern Middle East, one which endures to this day.
With his hallmark insight into the forces at play in the Middle East and his acclaimed journalistic skill, Lawrence Wright takes us through each of the thirteen days of the Camp David conference, illuminating the issues that have made the problems of the region so intractable, as well as exploring the scriptural narratives that continue to frame the conflict. In addition to his in-depth accounts of the lives of the three leaders, Wright draws vivid portraits of other fiery personalities who were present at Camp David–including Moshe Dayan, Osama el-Baz, and Zbigniew Brzezinski–as they work furiously behind the scenes. Wright also explores the significant role played by Rosalynn Carter.
What emerges is a riveting view of the making of this unexpected and so far unprecedented peace. Wright exhibits the full extent of Carter’s persistence in pushing an agreement forward, the extraordinary way in which the participants at the conference—many of them lifelong enemies—attained it, and the profound difficulties inherent in the process and its outcome, not the least of which has been the still unsettled struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
In Thirteen Days in September, Wright gives us a resonant work of history and reportage that provides both a timely revisiting of this important diplomatic triumph and an inside look at how peace is made.
©2014 Lawrence Wright (P)2014 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
One of the New York Times Top Ten Best Books of the Year
“A magnificent book [from] one of our finest nonfiction writers. . . . In his minute-by-minute account of the talks Wright intersperses a concise history of Egyptian-Israeli relations dating from the story of Exodus. Even more important is Wright's understanding that Sadat, Begin and Carter were not just political leaders, but exemplars of the Holy Land's three internecine religious traditions." - Joe Klein, New York Times Book Review, front page
“An engrossing chronicle of Carter’s marathon peace negotiations with Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat at Camp David . . . an illuminating view of a vital event that has been all but forgotten—and of a single-minded, even messianic president whose White House years have been denigrated and discredited . . . In examining the three, Wright is both fascinated and fair-minded, seeing men of faith and fortitude, and ultimately of vision, with stark similarities and even starker differences. . . . A wonderful book.”—David M. Shribman, Boston Globe
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From the former editor in chief of Haaretz, the first in-depth, comprehensive biography of Ariel Sharon, the most dramatic and imposing Israeli political and military leader of the last forty years. The life of Ariel Sharon spans much of modern Israel’s history. A commander in the Israeli Army from its inception in 1948, Sharon participated in the 1948 War of Independence, played decisive roles in the 1956 Suez War and the Six-Day War of 1967, and is credited here with the shift in the outcome of the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
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Larger than Life Hero
- By Eugene Choong on 10-07-24
By: David Landau
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Red Heat
- Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean
- By: Alex von Tunzelmann
- Narrated by: Sarah Coomes
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The Caribbean crises of the Cold War are revealed as never before in this riveting story of clashing ideologies, the rise of the politics of fear, the machinations of superpowers, and the daring of the brazen mavericks who took them on. The superpowers thought they could use Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic as puppets, but what neither bargained on was that their puppets would come to life.
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Interesting, not extraordinary.
- By History on 10-24-11
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Ben-Gurion
- A Political Life
- By: Shimon Peres, David Landau
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Shimon Peres was in his early 20s when he first met David Ben-Gurion. Although the state that Ben-Gurion would lead through war and peace had not yet declared its precarious independence, the "Old Man", as he was called even then, was already a mythic figure. Peres, who came of age in the cabinets of Ben-Gurion, is uniquely placed to evoke this figure of stirring contradictions - a prophetic visionary and a canny pragmatist who early grasped the necessity of compromise for national survival.
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Great Perfomance, Less than Stellar Story
- By Alexander on 01-02-12
By: Shimon Peres, and others
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Midnight's Furies
- The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition
- By: Nisid Hajari
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Nobody expected the liberation of India and birth of Pakistan to be so bloody - it was supposed to be an answer to the dreams of Muslims and Hindus who had been ruled by the British for centuries. Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi's protégé and the political leader of India, believed that Indians were an inherently nonviolent, peaceful people. Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was a secular lawyer, not a firebrand.
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Amazingly detailed account of this tragedy i gigan
- By BG on 10-09-15
By: Nisid Hajari
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Indian Summer
- The Secret History of the End of an Empire
- By: Alex von Tunzelmann
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the British Empire withdrew from India, igniting the exhilaration and turmoil of a newly free society. In this vivid, atmospheric popular history, Alex von Tunzelmann chronicles these times through the most prominent figures.
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Such an interesting piece of History made easy
- By Diego on 01-23-12
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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 China Mission
- By: Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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As World War II came to an end, General George Marshall was renowned as the architect of Allied victory. Set to retire, he instead accepted what he thought was a final mission - this time not to win a war, but to stop one. Across the Pacific, conflict between Chinese Nationalists and Communists threatened to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. His assignment was to broker a peace, build a Chinese democracy, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III.
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A Previously Untold Story of a Failed Mission
- By Jonathan Love on 05-29-18
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Menachem Begin
- The Battle for Israel's Soul
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Reviled as a fascist by his great rival Ben-Gurion, venerated by Israel’s underclass, the first Israeli to win the Nobel Peace Prize, a proud Jew but not a conventionally religious one, Menachem Begin was both complex and controversial. Born in Poland in 1913, Begin was a youthful admirer of the Revisionist Zionist Ze’ev Jabotinsky and soon became a leader within Jabotinsky’s Betar movement.
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Great story lousy oration
- By Jacob Engelstein on 10-03-14
By: Daniel Gordis
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The Conquerors
- Roosevelt, Truman, and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945
- By: Michael Beschloss
- Narrated by: Michael Beschloss
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Abridged
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From Michael Beschloss, one of America's most respected historians, The Conquerors reveals one of the most important stories of World War II. As Allied soldiers fought the Nazis, Franklin Roosevelt and, later, Harry Truman fought in private with Churchill and Stalin over how to ensure that Germany could never threaten the world again.
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Poor narration
- By Gary Bradt on 02-01-03
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Mao
- The Unknown Story
- By: Jung Chang, Jon Halliday
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on a decade of research and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before, and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him, this is the most authoritative biography of Mao ever written.
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Fills many gaps! Very good..but!
- By Jene on 08-07-06
By: Jung Chang, and others
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The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume I: Visions of Glory 1874-1932
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 41 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Winston Churchill is perhaps the most important political figure of the 20th century. His great oratory and leadership during the Second World War were only part of his huge breadth of experience and achievement. Studying his life is a fascinating way to imbibe the history of his era and gain insight into key events that have shaped our time.
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Superb - Review of Both Volume I & Volume II
- By Wolfpacker on 01-23-09
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The Fall of Heaven
- The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran
- By: Andrew Scott Cooper
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In this remarkably human portrait of one of the 20th century's most complicated personalities, author Andrew Scott Cooper traces Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's life from childhood through his ascension to the throne in 1941. He highlights the turbulence of the postwar era, during which the shah survived assassination attempts and coup plots to build a modern, pro-Western state and launch Iran onto the world stage as one of the world's top five powers.
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Excellent account of a pivotal and sad time
- By Guerin Shea on 09-05-16
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Fun listen and a great story
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Lawrence Wright missed important details
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What listeners say about Thirteen Days in September
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Randall Risner
- 04-08-15
Biased
Very biased! Very pro Arab and anti Israeli. President Carter showed strengths and weaknesses. His anger explains his views on the Middle East today. Holding a grudge I think.
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3 people found this helpful
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- David
- 06-18-15
Lessons in Negotiation
Jimmy Carter is underrated as a president. He was the first to make an issue of human rights around the world. He was honest, well-intentioned and caring of the needy. He brought his vision of a just world to the Camp David peace talks, where he cajoled two strong-willed, suspicious leaders to overcome their personal antipathies and those of their people to reach a peace accord that has lasted, with some cracks, for many years.
Lawrence Wright provides a detailed, day-by-day account of the tense moments and the personal conflicts that nevertheless resulted in the peace accord. His account seems balanced and insightful. Minor players like the countries' foreign ministers and the wives are well-drawn--Roslyn Carter especially is a sympathetic figure, her husband's best friend and confidant, an instigator of the talks who struggles to keep her poker face through the temper tantrums, the deadlocks and the ultimate triumphs of the talks.
Overall, this was an important story, well told. And it is a lesson in negotiations, with a keen understanding of the posturing, the changing strategies, the consultations, the use of supporting players and the creative techniques that finally lead to peace.
The narration was strong. Mark Bramhall did a good job differentiating the players and their accents without ever slipping into caricature.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Eugene Ngumi
- 03-10-15
Extraordinary events well told
The camp David accords are extraordinary in their mere existence, the story of how they came to be is even more so. While the authors attempts to anchor the conflict in religion is a bit irritating at times it still does not diminish the events or the personalities involved.
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- D. Littman
- 12-12-14
revealing political history
This book is so revealing about the Carter administration & the post WW2 history of the middle east. I remember vaguely this whole event, the Carter peace initiative, but Wright successfully brings the event, the key characters (not just the principals) & the contextual background to life. The book mixes biography of the key players with the main event. Sometimes this feels a little bumpy - it might play more so this way in the audio version, since listener cannot see chapter headings or other transitions that would appear in the physical book. The narrator is excellent.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Roger Israel
- 07-02-15
Compelling, important book
Terrific story, masterfully told. Wright presents his thoroughly researched material in an effective and impartial manner.
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- Hayekian
- 05-24-23
Great history book. Easily explains much of today.
Great book that easily explains much of today's continuing expanding world-wide chaos. Although I find Carter to have mande countless errors regarding the American economy he remains by far the most thoughtful and considerate president of at least the last 40+ years. Makes sense how Carter immediately somewhat fell in love with Sadat. Sadat was, for the times, and the country, an incredibly wise and considerate man who really believed in fellow human beings and talking to others. One easily sees how totally brainwashed into naive historical narratives and "identity" Begin was. Begin too I can see as being a great person, but as with Communist ideologues, sometimes wonderful people can fall for disastrous ideologues. It is scary to realize that if men like Carter, Sadat, and Begin were not able to make significant steps towards peace, how can we do so now with a senile Biden who is surrounded by the most naive Zionists like Blinken and Sullivan and Nuland and countless others who have expanded the naive good vs. evil to now include countries that get along with critics of Zionism like Russia due to its good relations with Syria and Iran? I mean, the Zionist calamity is just engulfing the whole planet and world leaders are 1/100th as bright and caring as they were 40 years ago. As the book deals with the histories of each men, one gets a nice snapshot of the history of the conflict etc. Just a wonderful book everyone will enjoy.
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- Jean
- 10-30-14
Magnificent
With the world in such a mess today it is refreshing to read of a time that the impossible managed to happen. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter saw an opportunity to fulfill his religious destiny by bringing peace to the Holy Land. Rosalynn Carter was the one to suggested using Camp David as an ideal location for a summit. The talks started on September 5 1978.
Carter had his hands full. Israeli Prime Minister Meacham Begin never loosened his tier, nor did his mind stray from the horror of the Holocaust. He was an avid Zionist. Sadat secluded himself from everyone including his own advisors. Carter under estimated the complexity of the situation. Carter believed they could reach an agreement in three days. It took thirteen days instead. Both parties threaten to walk out daily. Carter ran back and forth between them working on a compromise. Carter forgot all his duties and concentrated all his efforts for the thirteen days on brokering an agreement. Wright concludes that it was Carter’s leadership that was the key to the success of the Accords. As a party to the negotiations Carter allowed each side to make concessions to the United States that they couldn’t make to each other. Both Begin and Sadat took extraordinary risks that achieved the peach that last today. Wright reminds us that Carter’s Camp David Accords was an act of surpassing political courage. He won the treaty but lost the presidency.
On the negative side the author’s favoritism toward Carter and Sadat comes through the story clearly. Wright makes some unnecessary remarks about Begin; I feel was inappropriate under the circumstances.
The author has done an excellent job meticulously piecing together from presidential records, diaries, interviews and books on the subject to create this most interesting book. Wright is a Pulitzer Prize winning author. Begin and Sadat received the Nobel Prize for Peace for reaching the Camp David Accords. This peace has now lasted for the past 36 years. Mark Bramhall did an excellent job narrating the book. If you are interested in history of the Middle East this is a must read book.
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8 people found this helpful
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- BWC
- 03-03-15
Excellent book
Excellent book; well researched and quite informative. Very well done in the audible format. Listened to on cross-country road trip, making the drive more enjoyable.
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- Kareem
- 02-26-18
Very objective true documentation
One of the most objections insightful and well written books I have ever read
Very enjoyable
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- Scott
- 09-23-14
Gripping moment by moment account
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I quite enjoyed this look behind the scenes of the negotiations that led to the Egypt/Israel peace treaty. Wright has a reputation as a fastidious researcher and chronicler of modern middle eastern geopolitics and he doesn't disappoint here. As they say, the devil is in the details and this couldn't be more true not only of the level of detail provided here but also in the fitful negotiations which resulted in the Camp David accord. Wright interweaves his moment by moment account of the thirteen days of negotiations with backgrounder material on the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict as well as the personalities of Sadat, Begin, Carter, Dayan, Weizmann and others and how the interplay of these played a crucial role in not only achieving the accords but just as interesting for the reader, almost derailing them. Of particular note here is the illuminating role (the much maligned, but recently seen in the literary world in a kinder historical light) Jimmy Carter played not only in facilitating the talks but on numerous occasions, saving them when all appeared lost. The end result is is a gripping (I won't say thrilling; that really isn't Wright's style), almost claustrophobic insiders view of the talks as well as a treatise on the art of negotiation, facilitation, and peace making. Anyone despairing of middle eastern politics today would do well to read this book to understand how seemingly intractable differences can be overcome/set aside in the broader pursuit of peace and the role that peacemakers must play in order to achieve it.
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9 people found this helpful