Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace - Hardcover

Shlaim, Avi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1400043050 ISBN 13: 9781400043057

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2008

Synopsis

During his long reign (1953–1999), King Hussein of Jordan was one of the most dominant figures in Middle Eastern politics and a consistent proponent of peace with Israel. This is the first major account of his life, written with access to his official documents and with the cooperation (but not approval) of his family and staff, and also extensive interviews with international policy makers.

For more than forty years, Hussein walked a tightrope between the Palestinians and Arab radicals on the one hand and Israel on the other. Avi Shlaim reveals that, for the sake of dynastic and national survival, Hussein initiated a secret dialogue with Israel in 1963 that encompassed more than one thousand hours with Golda Meir, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, and countless others. Shlaim reconstructs this dialogue across battle lines from previously untapped Israeli records and the firsthand accounts of key participants, and makes clear that it was Israeli intransigence that was largely responsible for the failure to achieve a peaceful settlement between 1967 and 1994.

At Hussein’s memorial service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Prince of Wales hailed him as “a man amongst men, a king amongst kings.” Lion of Jordan illuminates the triumphs and disappointments, the qualities and character of this extraordinary soldier and statesman, and significantly rewrites the history of the Middle East over the past fifty years.

About this title

Review

"A powerful, richly researched history. . . . Fascinating. . . . Passionately engaged. . . . Nuanced and human. . . . Shlaim's blow-by-blow account of Hussein's career reads as a somberly addictive saga. . . . King Hussein's whole life was spent in foreign affairs, and his story becomes the story of the Middle East over half a century."
--New York Review of Books

"King Hussein was a leader of remarkable vision, commitment and humanity. . . . Shlaim brilliantly lays out Hussein's search for tranquility for his country and his neighbors, and the obstacles his negotiating partners put in his way."
--The Washington Post

"An absorbing diplomatic chronicle. . . . [Shlaim's] authority, and tenacity, are undeniable. . . . His narrative is gripping. . . . Shlaim details every move, much like a crime reporter covering an interminable gang war, marveling at the young boss's ability to play for a draw or make his own luck. . . . Step by step, he guides us through the opportunities the players did not miss a chance to miss."
--The Nation

"Excellent. . . . A particularly valuable account of Hussein's relations with Israel and the Palestinians."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Shlaim is an Iraqi-born academic, reared in Israel and long resident in Britain, who writes about the Middle East with exceptional wisdom and insight. . . . [He] tells the story extremely well."
--Max Hastings, Sunday Times (London)

"The most authoritative biography of [King Hussein]. . . . He emerges from under Shlaim's microscope as honest, fundamentally decent and, in a region noted for its brutality and treachery, notably merciful and kind. In his personal dealings, most strikingly with the Israelis, he was especially gracious. . . . Without his relentless diplomacy (conducted often along those secret channels), the region might be even bloodier than it is already."
--The Economist

"A thrilling, masterful biography."
--Simon Sebag Montefiore, Sunday Telegraph (London), Book of the Year

"Riveting. . . . Artful. . . . Thoroughly informed."
--Wall Street Journal

"A highly readable account of the courageous, astute and sometimes impulsive leader of 'an impecunious and insignificant desert kingdom.'"
--Financial Times

"Remarkable. . . . Shlaim tells [this story], for all its complicated scholarship and historical allusion, with genuine compassion. . . . He has worried his way through subterfuge and mendacity, terrorist threat and open warfare, to establish Hussein's credentials as a genuine champion of peace."
--Jan Morris, Guardian (London)

"All would-be Middle East peacemakers should read [Lion of Jordan]. For Shlaim shows not only how attempts at peacemaking in the region have failed, but also why."
--Sunday Telegraph (London)

"Shlaim is the sort of historian every country needs. An exposer of national myths, [he is] the supreme scholar of Arab-Israeli negotiations. . . . For many years [Lion of Jordan] will remain the standard work on King Hussein."
--The Spectator

"Superb. . . . [Shlaim] not only has the twists and turns of the Arab-Israeli conflict at his fingertips but understands better than most why it has twisted or turned."
--New Statesman

"If one wishes to personalise the political history of the Middle East in the second half of the 20th century, there is no better choice of subject than Hussein bin Talal. . . . [Lion of Jordan] captures well the noble aspirations of its subject."
--Daily Telegraph (London)

"Shlaim's stinging critique of Israel might stir controversy, but his comprehensive, nuanced account of Hussein's life illuminates the tragic complexities of Middle Eastern politics."
--Publishers Weekly

"Wide-ranging and well-documented. . . . Shlaim's book gives us a better understanding of a major politician."
--The Observer (London)

About the Author

Avi Shlaim was born in Baghdad in 1945, grew up in Israel, and studied at Cambridge and the London School of Economics. He is a Fellow of St. Anthony’s College and a Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2006. His books include Collusion Across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World, and War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History. He lives in Berlin.

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1400043050
• ISBN 13: 9781400043057
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 723