The Land of Blood and Honey: The Rise of Modern Israel

by Martin van Creveld

The definitive one-volume history of Israel by its most distinguished historian

From its Zionist beginnings at the end of the nineteenth century through the past sixty, tumultuous years, the state of Israel has been, as van Creveld argues, "the greatest success story in the entire twentieth century." In this crisp volume, he skillfully relates the improbable story of a nationless people who, given a hot and arid patch of land and coping with every imaginable obstacle, founded a country that is now the envy of surrounding states. While most studies on Israel focus on the political, this encompassing history weaves together the nation's economic, social, cultural and religious narratives while also offering diplomatic solutions to help Israel achieve peace. Without question, this is the best one-volume history of Israel and its people.

Genres: History, Israel, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published July 26, 2010

About the author

Martin Levi van Creveld is an Israeli military historian and theorist.

Van Creveld was born in the Netherlands in the city of Rotterdam, and has lived in Israel since shortly after his birth. He holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he has been on the faculty since 1971. He is the author of seventeen books on military history and strategy, of which Command in War (1985), Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton (1977, 2nd edition 2004), The Transformation of War (1991), The Sword and the Olive (1998) and The Rise and Decline of the State (1999) are among the best known. Van Creveld has lectured or taught at many strategic institutes in the Western world, including the U.S. Naval War College.

- wikipedia.org

Reviews

[Aron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an easy and quick read that gives an excellent overview of Israel's history. Van Creveld is a cranky but proud Zionist who makes no attempt to hide his biases and expresses himself in a very non-PC way. Nontheless this is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the complex and fascinating history of Zionism and Israel. Just don't expect subtlety or "even-handedness."

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most defenses of Israel by proud Zionists, this is racist AF and virtually ignores the humanity of Palestinians. It also contains several outright lies about the viability of the land of Palestine and offers up white supremacy as Palestine’s only hope at “civilization.”

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating look at the modern state of Israel. Especially important to learning and understanding in light of the latest war brought on by the atrocities of Oct. 7. I learned a lot about Israeli politics and government. It is interesting to see it from an Israeli perspective rather than a media biased account. The author did a good job of pointing out the flaws and foibles of their leaders and system. I would love to hear his thoughts about the current situation.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good but far from the final word on anything. Useful to put tie things together and put them in perspective but each war, social issue or major economic development really needs more attention. Though he makes no apologies about showing the history of Zionism/Israel and not of Israel/Palestine, I think the book suffers from ignoring the Arabs too much. For instance, 48 and 67 are as much the stories of Jordanian political calculations as they are of heroic IDF soldiers but you don't really see that in his discussion.

Disclaimer: I only made it to the 1980s before having to return the book to the library.

[Homer H Blass]

An interesting social and political history of Israel from 1900 to the present by Israel's most significant military commentator . van Creeveld write better military analysis than political narrative or social political analysis. He has lots of anecdotal content useful for other members of the Israeli political establishment but rougher rieading for an American outsider. I used it as a text this semester in my HITW 441; The Modern Middle East; but will replace it with something else the next time I teach the course again.