Cursed Victory: A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories - Softcover

Bregman, Dr Ahron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141017236 ISBN 13: 9780141017235

Publisher: Penguin, 2015

Synopsis

Cursed Victory tells the story of Israel's troubled presence in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula since its sweeping victory in the 1967 Six Day War. Drawing on countless high-level interviews, never-before-seen letters and top secret memos, distinguished Israeli historian Ahron Bregman traces the evolution of the military occupation over four decades.

Cursed Victory provides vivid portraits of the key players in this unfolding drama, including Moshe Dayan, Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat, yet always reminds the reader how diplomatic negotiations in Madrid, New York and Oslo impacted the daily lives of millions of Arabs.

About this title

Review:

Bregman tells this bleak story well, and what a catalogue of grief it is ... A damning verdict (Max Hastings Sunday Times)

Bregman has also enjoyed unparalleled access to high-level sources that enabled him to quote directly from top-secret memos, letters, and intelligence reports that are unlikely ever to be made public ... Bregman's account of the conflict born of the cursed victory is intelligent, informative and rich in telling details. (Avi Shlaim Guardian)

The headlines notwithstanding, this is not primarily a book about who spied on whom. It is the best available book on the Israeli occupation of the Territories and why it should be ended ASAP; and one written with the kind of lucidity and insight only somebody who passionately loves his country can muster (Martin van Creveld)

A bombshell book... The nuggets provided in Bregman's book shed light on the extent of Israel's intelligence collection agencies' work not only in times of war, but also as Israel engaged with its neighbors in peace talks.... Bregman has a flair for exposing sensational details kept in secret by all parties for years (The Jewish Daily Forward)

Israeli intelligence eavesdropped on phone calls between President Bill Clinton and Syria's late strongman Hafez al-Assad during sensitive Middle East peace negotiations 15 years ago... Evidence is cited in verbatim transcripts of the calls revealed by political scientist and author Ahron Bregman in his forthcoming book Cursed Victory (Jeff Stein Newsweek)

Lucid ... timely ... Bregman has assets which lift this account above many on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One is access to some hitherto secret material ... [Cursed Victory is] a highly readable study, an excellent starting point for those wanting to know more about how military victory turned into a tragedy (Donald MacIntyre The Independent)

Explosive.... [Bregman's] insight into the tragedy of post Six-Day-War Israel, which the title encapsulates in two words, is impeccable (Mira Bar Hillel The Oldie)

Although only nine years old in 1967, [Bregman's] insight into the tragedy of Israel after the Six Day War is impeccable (Independent Mira Bar Hillel)

Detailed and well thought-out... A former Israeli soldier in Lebanon, Mr Bregman knows his subject first-hand. In 1988 he left Israel, unhappy about the country's policy towards the Palestinians. As an academic at King's College London, he has accumulated copious documents, many of them secret and unpublished (Economist)

The definitive chronicle of how Israel's control over Palestinian life has transformed from a temporary system to a fully functioning colonial administration... Cursed Victory excels in unpacking exactly how Israel's administration of the occupation has adapted over five decades to ensure its continuation (The National (UAE))

About the Author:

Ahron Bregman is the author of four books about Israel and the Arabs: The Fifty Years War (with Jihan el Tahri), Israel's Wars, A History of Israel and Elusive Peace. He teaches at the Department of War Studies, King's College London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0141017236
• ISBN 13: 9780141017235
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432