1949, the First Israelis

Required reading for all who want to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict. Segev's book provides the best analysis I have seen of the problems of trying to integrate so many people from such diverse cultures into one political body. "The New York Times Book Review"

A landmark book . . . Necessary reading for anyone interested in the past and future of the Middle East. "San Francisco Chronicle"

A fascinating read . . . told with acid compassion. "The New York Review of Books"

Understanding the present demands an honest confrontation with the past. "1949 "makes a major contribution to understanding. "Los Angeles Times Book Review""

"Required reading for all who want to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict. Segev's book provides the best analysis I have seen of the problems of trying to integrate so many people from such diverse cultures into one political body." --The New York Times Book Review

"A landmark book . . . Necessary reading for anyone interested in the past and future of the Middle East." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A fascinating read . . . told with acid compassion." --The New York Review of Books

"Understanding the present demands an honest confrontation with the past. 1949 makes a major contribution to understanding." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

The founding of Israel in 1948--one of the seminal events of the century--offers a heroic narrative with few parallels in modern history. In 1949, a controversial best-seller in Israel, Tom Segev draws on thousands of declassified documents along with personal diaries and correspondence to reconstruct the unvarnished story of Israel's first year.

Segev reveals the lofty aspirations that guided the state's leaders as well as the darker side of the Zionist utopia: the friction between the early settlers and the immigrants, the lack of good-faith negotiations with the Arabs; the clash between religious and secular factions; the daily collision of the Zionist myth with the severe realities of life in the new state. Unflinching in its observations, this bold chronicle is indispensible for understanding the dilemmas that continue to confront--and divide--Israeli society.