Avi Shlaim

"The June 1967 war was a watershed in the history of the modern Middle East. In six days, the Israelis defeated the Arab armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan and seized large portions of territory including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. With the hindsight of four decades and access to recently declassified documents, two veteran scholars of the Middle East bring together some of the most knowledgeable experts in their fields to reassess the origins of the war and its regional reverberations. Each chapter takes a different perspective from the vantage point of a different participant, those that actually took part in the war, and also the world powers, the United States, Soviet Union, Britain, and France, that played important roles behind the scenes. Their conclusions make for sober reading. At the heart of the story was the incompetence of the Egyptian high command under the leadership of Nasser and the rivalry between various Arab players who were deeply suspicious of each other, motives. Israel, on the other side, gained a resounding victory for which, despite previous assessments to the contrary, there was no master plan"--

Tells the story of the unusual and highly secret relationship between Abdullah, the Hashemite ruler of Jordan, and the Zionist movement. It spans three decades from 1921 to 1951 and focuses in particular on the clandestine dilomacy and the poliltical and military processes which determined the fate of Palestine between 1947 and 1950, and which left the Palestinian Arabs without a homeland.

An anthology of short stories and poems by young Armenian writers in the United States, and translations of selected short stories from the original Armenian, collected from issues of the Hairenik weekly, 1934-1938 inclusive.

For most of his long reign (1953-1999) Hussein of Jordan was one of the dominant figures in Middle Eastern politics, its most continuous presence, and one of the most consistent proponents of peace with Israel. This book gives an account of his life and reign, written with access to many of his surviving papers.

Professor Shlaim chronicles King Abdullah's relationship with the Zionist movement from his appointment as Emir of Transjordan in 1921 to his assassination in 1951.

The recent Israel-PLO accord is only the most recent surprise in a region whose politics often seem complex to the point of mysteriousness. How can Americans decipher the latest diplomatic tilt, rumor of war, or threat to oil supplies? Where will the Middle East's centuries-old quest for self-determination lead? An Oxford professor of international relations finds answers in a historical context that is often overlooked. With a special focus on the last half-century, he illuminates the four phases of external involvement - the Ottoman, the European, the Superpower, and the American - that have molded the political evolution of the Middle East. He assesses the past roles of Britain, France, and the former Soviet Union, clarifies how power and influence have shifted in the aftermath of the Cold War, and appraises both the recurrent myopia of the United States and its essential function as a mediator. Shrewd, witty, and highly readable, War and Peace in the Middle East offers invaluable insights, for the student and the general reader, into one of the most volatile subsystems of international politics.

"'Fascinating... Shlaim presents compelling evidence for a revaluation of traditional Israeli history.' --New York Times Book Review. For this newly expanded edition, Avi Shlaim has added four chapters and an epilogue that address the prime ministerships from Barak to Netanyahu in the 'one book everyone should read for a concise history of Israel's relations with Arabs' (Independent). What was promulgated as an 'iron-wall' strategy--building a position of unassailable strength--was meant to yield to a further stage where Israel would be strong enough to negotiate a satisfactory peace with its neighbors. The goal still remains elusive, if not even further away. This penetrating study brilliantly illuminates past progress and future prospects for peace in the Middle East"--