The Battle for Jerusalem

by Mordechai Gur

An inside account of one of the key battles of the Six Day War by one of Israel's leading military officers provides a gripping account of the events surrounding the conflict. Reprint.

Genres: Military Fiction, Israel, History, War

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Ivan Goldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping account of a tough house-to-house battle against an entrenched enemy. Because of the historic, archeological and religious significance of Jerusalem's Old City the attacking Israeli paratroops could use only small arms, which put them at a great disadvantage. No tanks, no mortars, artillery, or air support. Not even RPGs. Attackers were killed because of these limitations, but their comrades kept coming. The defending Jordanian troops were the best-trained soldiers in all the Arab armies and determined to hold their ground. General Gur is a fine narrator who understood all this. It's a personal account. He knew the names of every man he lost. There are just enough details to make the battle come alive.

[LB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is kind of hard to rate. I'd say it's a mixed bag. The writer provides a lot of info about the retake of Jerusalem in 1967 but in a confused way. He seems to assume that readers know the city as well as he does but apparently very few do, and for me personally, the book was hard to follow. I gave up following the ebb and flow of the battle after a while and just focused on single episodes. Some of those were described well. The writer takes the time to go into detail and even touch upon ppl's feelings and those are easier to read. Some details are quite vivid; there are heartbreaking scenes of death. It looks like the writer wanted to emphasize the sacrifice Israel made to return to the sacred Wall. The book would have benefited from maps and photos. My edition had a different cover than this one here and other than one small photo of Gur himself on the back cover, it had nothing.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

A real disappointment, this has no real focus to it. It's a minute by minute account of details of high or no significance, all mixed together. I was really interested in this battle after traveling the area but this book is not the account I hoped for. Frustrating to read.