The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences (Cambridge Middle East Studies, Series Number 36) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521174791 ISBN 13: 9780521174794

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2012

Synopsis

The June 1967 war was a watershed in the history of the modern Middle East. In six days, the Israelis defeated the Arab armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan and seized large portions of territory including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. With the hindsight of four decades and access to recently declassified documents, two veteran scholars of the Middle East bring together some of the most knowledgeable experts in their fields to reassess the origins of the war and its regional reverberations. Each chapter takes a different perspective from the vantage point of a different participant, those that actually took part in the war, and also the world powers - the United States, Soviet Union, Britain, and France - that played important roles behind the scenes. Their conclusions make for sober reading. At the heart of the story was the incompetence of the Egyptian high command under the leadership of Nasser and the rivalry between various Arab players who were deeply suspicious of each other's motives. Israel, on the other side, gained a resounding victory for which, despite previous assessments to the contrary, there was no master plan.

About this title

Book Description

The June 1967 war was a watershed in the history of the modern Middle East. In six days, the Israelis defeated the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armies, seizing large portions of their territories. Two veteran scholars of the Middle East bring together some of the most knowledgeable experts in their fields to reassess the origins and the legacies of the war. Each chapter takes a different perspective from the vantage point of a different participant, those that actually took part in the war, and also the world powers that played important roles behind the scenes. Their conclusions make for sober reading. At the heart of the story was the incompetence of the Egyptian leadership and the rivalry between various Arab players who were deeply suspicious of each other's motives. Israel, on the other side, gained a resounding victory for which, despite previous assessments to the contrary, there was no master plan.

About the Author

Wm Roger Louis is the Kerr Chair in English History and Culture at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the editor-in-chief of The Oxford History of the British Empire (5 volumes, 1999), A Revolutionary Year: The Middle East in 1958 (co-edited with Roger Owen, 2002), Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization (2006) and editor of Burnt Orange Britannia: Adventures in History and the Arts (2006).

Avi Shlaim is a Fellow at St Antony's College and Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford. He is the author of many books, including The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (2001), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Second Edition (2007), Lion of Jordan: King Hussein's Life in War and Peace (2007) and Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations (2009).

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0521174791
• ISBN 13: 9780521174794
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 346
• Editor: Louis Wm Roger