A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Tessler's "A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" is a must read for anyone truly wanting to dive deep into the historical background of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Contrary to most other books on this topic, Tessler provides a highly objective and in-depth analysis into the evolution of the conflict from the 1880's to the early 90's, when the book was written. He includes necessary prerequisite information, including an analysis of the Judaic and Islamic religions, Arab nationalism vs. Zionism, and even some European history. Also unique to this book are the inclusions of various historical accounts that provide better context for which to analyze the present-day conflict. Whenever possible, Tessler attempts to include exerts from historians on both sides; further adding to the book's credibility and objectivity. The book reads surprisingly easy and is not overly cumbersome.

It has taken me several months to finish off this huge book, but the experience of learning so much has been very rewarding. This is quite simply the best nonfiction book I've ever read, and this on a topic as complex as the Middle East conflict, no less. Tessler's work is completely unbiased and offers an incredibly detailed presentation of the facts up to Fall 1993, after the Oslo accords were announced.Tessler, an American professor, writes in a straight-forward style that is easily understandable. Although the sheer volume of history covered in the book was considerable, I never found myself bored by the writing. I wish my high school history books were written so well.Like a good academian (in the very best sense of the term), he presents the facts clearly. For each historical event, he cites several credible sources stating the event, and for retrospective analysis of its importance, he cites opinions from multiple sides. The build-up to the 1967 war, for example, consumes 20 pages and 50 citations. His use of references is so thorough that of the book's 900+ pages, 93 pages are endnotes.I only have a few minor negative remarks about this book:1. Obviously, since the book was published in 1994, it is not up to date and does not cover the break-down of the negotiations from the Oslo accords. However, historical facts prior to 1993 have not changed (at least not in the Orwellian sense, thank goodness), and this book does an outstanding job for its time frame as I have said.2. There are no photos at all, save for the picture on the cover.3. For a topic so centered on geography, the quality of the maps is surprisingly poor. There are 20 maps showing the important boundaries and such, but these look like they were drawn by a high school art student. A single high-detail, atlas-quality map from 1994 would have been appropriate as well. Instead, I found some colour maps on the web that I printed out and keep folded in the book to use as a quick reference.A much more recent book that I also highly recommend that covers these three points (recentness, photos, and maps) is _The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Crisis in the Middle East_ by Reuters journalists. That book is filled with beautiful photography, nice maps, and is up-to-date to March 2002. It makes a great companion to this book.Overall, this book by Tessler is outstanding. Although its size may be a bit daunting, you will thank yourself for reading this book.

I searched for 2 weeks for a book that would fairly present both sides of the Israeli-Palistinian debate and probably most of you are in the same boat - feeling too ignorant about something too important. Tessler presents such a balanced view that 400 pages into the book I can't tell if he believes either side is "in the right." The book makes clear why both sides have reasons to call this land their own and also makes clear that both sides have engaged in less than moral tactics to stake their claim and drive out the other side. You may not come away knowing who is right but at least you'll have a sense of why the middle east is how it is today.

Too often the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict gets distorted by those who are too attached to one side or the other and twist the history to fit their agenda. They often fail to admit the tragedies they have inflicted on the other side and demonized their opponents' motives. Mark Tessler does an excellent job of presenting a fair and balanced history of the conflict and of avoiding these pitfalls. What is great about this book is that it not only details the actually events but discusses the ideologies and the political constraints facing both sides. I felt like I didn't just learn history, but also learned why each side made the decisions they did. I hope Professor Tessler is considering making an updated edition.

What subject could be more complex, and the telling of its history more liable to political bias and encumberance, than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? One must be extremely diligent and capable of independent critical analysis to find one's way through the warring literature on this subject, whether from right, left or center. Mark Tessler's is the most objective, scrupulous, balanced--and therefore most humane--detailed history of this conflict that I have seen. I cannot imagine why it hasn't had more attention. It should, in fact, be on the required reading list of everyone concerned about this conflict. If only its findings and approach could sink into popular consciousness, it might provide an antidote for violence and blind rage, as well as for politically or intellectually-motivated self-righteousness. It should be widely translated, and available in both Arabic and Hebrew.