O Jerusalem!

Authors: Larry Collins and Dominique Lapiere

Genre: Non fiction, history

I had read ‘Freedom at Midnight’ by the same authors many years ago and had thoroughly enjoyed it. So I was excited to read some more of their works. This book is about Israel’s Fight for Independence.

The book covers a span of about a year, from the time the British decided to leave Palestine in 1947 to the final cease-fire signed by Israel and the surrounding Arab countries in 1948. Like their previous book, this one also was a very captivating read. The authors have a real flair for describing historical events and the books runs like an interesting and action packed novel. The authors have beautifully depicted the struggles on both sides- Arab as well as Jewish. For example, using small anecdotes, acquired directly from people at that time, they clearly show the pains suffered by the civilians- food and water shortage for Jerusalem’s Jewish population during the siege and the plight of the Arab refugees. The main events of the history are also complemented by many tales of heroism, comedy and romance that the people and soldiers came across. I was not familiar with how Israel came into being before this, and so for me, the book felt like a thrilling tale that kept me hooked to the very end. The high amount of researching that has gone behind the making of this book is quite apparent. The backgrounds of the main people involved in this struggle on both Jewish and Arab sides introduced throughout the book, have been given in detail.

The writing style is eloquent and the overall flow is maintained well. The only difficulty I felt was that at times it becomes difficult to keep  up with all the details and names, especially if one is not familiar with the history. My solution was to make a note of the characters on the side as they were introduced so I could look back at them if I forgot. However, don’t let this small point turn you away from the book! I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history!