On the centenary of Britain's Balfour Declaration - promising a Jewish 'national home' in Palestine - comes a major new history of the Palestinians and Israelis.
Ian Black was Middle East editor of the Guardian until 2016. In over 35 years he was also the paper's Jerusalem Correspondent, Diplomatic Editor, European Editor and Chief Foreign Editorial Writer. He has covered major events in the Middle East, from the Iran-Iraq War to the Palestinian Intifadas and the Arab Spring. He is now a visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics. He is the author of Zionism and the Arabs, 1936-1939 and Israel's Secret Wars (with Benny Morris), and appears regularly on BBC TV and radio, Sky News and Al-Jazeera.
Excellent ... A detailed, even-handed account of the world's most
intractable and damaging political dispute
*Sunday Times*
Excellent ... Ian Black brings a fresh perspective to one of the
most closely studied conflicts on Earth, unpacking its complexities
with clarity and candour
*Observer*
Comprehensive and compelling ... A nuanced, landmark study that has
deservedly won plaudits from both Palestinian and Israeli
historians
*The Times*
Compelling ... Merits close reading for its rich detail and rare
subtlety ... Denies made-up minds their soothing certainties ... A
reading of uncommon clarity, informed by extensive research and
keen insight
*Spectator*
[A] wonderful new history of Palestine and Israel ... For its
clarity and balance, Black's work stands tall in a field that is
likely to continue growing
*Economist*
A good read..... sharp, fast paragraphs filled with vivid
detail...keeps a tight focus on events on the ground. Punctures the
view...that Palestinians bear virtually all the blame for the
failure of recent efforts to create a Palestinian state
*New York Times*
A remarkable book that combines sharp insight with absolute
impartiality on one of the world's most complex and intractable
conflicts. Black captures the voices of the Palestinians and
Israelis with equal compassion, and holds their leaders to account
with equal severity. An outstanding accomplishment
*Eugene Rogan, author of 'The Arabs: A History'*
Superbly researched and highly readable. Even those who are well
read on the subject will find new insights that had escaped
them
*Raja Shehadeh, author of 'Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing
Landscape'*
When Israeli and Palestinian historians eventually sit down
together to compose a single narrative to replace their bitterly
conflicting histories, they will find that Ian Black's book has
already done it for them. This brilliant, dispassionate work leaves
us, curiously, optimistic - for he shows us that there is a middle
ground
*Meron Benvenisti, author of 'Sacred Landscape: The Buried History
of the Holy Land Since 1948'*
In its fine balance of historical sweep and telling detail, in its
sharp analysis of social, economic, and political forces, and in
its exceptional fairness to all sides, Ian Black's thorough and
incisive history of the struggle between Arabs and Jews in
Palestine and Israel is the book every student of this conflict
should read first. A remarkable achievement
*Nathan Thrall, author of 'The Only Language They Understand:
Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine'*
In a field where one has gotten used to one-sided 'narratives', it
is refreshing to come across a historical account that simply lays
down the facts, gory and tragic as these may be. This book is a
must-read for those who, still entertaining hope for a sane exit
from the conflict, need to be shocked out of their stupor
*Sari Nusseibeh, author of 'Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian
Life'*
The hundred years' war for Palestine has produced numerous books;
Ian Black has written one of the finest. Enemies and Neighbours
displays an admirable ability to present this enormously
complicated and tragic conflict in a lucid and riveting style - and
pays unusually close attention to how both sides - Arabs and Jews -
have seen it at different periods
*Tom Segev, author of 'One Palestine, Complete – Jews and Arabs
Under the British Mandate'*
Ian Black draws on decades of experience as a journalist in
Palestine and Israel to offer a nuanced and thorough account of the
century-old conflict over Palestine. A readable and fair assessment
of why this conflict has continued unabated for so long
*Rashid Khalidi, author of 'Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has
Undermined Peace in the Middle East'*
This detailed and objective account of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict from 1917 onwards catalogues in the most enlightening way
the appalling violence and hatred that lies at the heart of today's
dangerous stalemate in the peace process
*Jeremy Greenstock, former British Ambassador to the United
Nations*
A tremendous amount of research has gone into Enemies and
Neighbors; the writing is straightforward, fast-paced and lucid;
and it pulled me right to the end, despite the heavy nature of its
topic. An excellent read that offers a true portrayal of the
situation
*Fida Jiryis, Palestinian writer, contributor to 'Kingdom of Olives
and Ash'*
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