Product Description

Though it lasted for only six tense days in June, the 1967 Arab-Israeli war never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades, from the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to the ongoing intifada, is a direct consequence of those six days of fighting. Michael B. Oren’s magnificent Six Days of War, an internationally acclaimed bestseller, is the first comprehensive account of this epoch-making event.

Writing with a novelist’s command of narrative and a historian’s grasp of fact and motive, Oren reconstructs both the lightning-fast action on the battlefields and the political shocks that electrified the world. Extraordinary personalities—Moshe Dayan and Gamal Abdul Nasser, Lyndon Johnson and Alexei Kosygin—rose and toppled from power as a result of this war; borders were redrawn; daring strategies brilliantly succeeded or disastrously failed in a matter of hours. And the balance of power changed—in the Middle East and in the world. A towering work of history and an enthralling human narrative, Six Days of War is the most important book on the Middle East conflict to appear in a generation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34485 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-03
• Released on: 2003-06-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This is the most complete history to date of the Six Day War of 1967, in which Israel entered and began its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. While no account can be definitive until Arab archives open, Oren, a Princeton-trained senior fellow at Jerusalem's Shalem Center who has served as director of Israel's department of inter-religious affairs and as an adviser to Israel's U.N. delegation, utilizes newly available archival sources and a spectrum of interviews with participants, including many Arabs, to fill gaps and correct misconceptions. Further, Six Days of War is an attack on "post-Zionism": the school of politics and history that casts Israel as the author of policies that intentionally promote the destuction of Palestine as a separate entity and of Palestinians as a people, not least through the occupation that began with the 1967 War. By contrast, Oren convincingly establishes in an often engrossing narrative the reactive, contingent nature of Israeli policy during both the crisis preceding the conflict and the war itself. As Prime Minister Levi Eshkol held the Israeli Defense Forces in check that May, Operation Dawn, an Egyptian plan for a preemptive strike against Israel, came within hours of implementation. It was canceled only because Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser feared it had been compromised. Israel's decision to seek its own security in arms was finally triggered, Oren shows, by Jordan's late accession to the hostile coalition dominated by Egypt and Syria. Geographically, the West Bank, then under Jordanian rule and occupation, cut Israel nearly in half. The military risk to Israel was unacceptable, Oren makes clear, in the context of a U.S. enmeshed in Vietnam and a West unwilling to act even in support of the status quo. Far from being a product of strategic calculation, Oren further argues, occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was also contingent: the consequence of a victory so rapid and one-sided that even Israel's generals found it difficult to believe it was happening. Israel, having proved it could not be defeated militarily and now possessing something to trade, hoped for comprehensive peace negotiations in a rational-actor model. Oren notes that some initiatives for peace did in fact develop. He seems, however, trying to convince himself along with his readers. Oren puts what he sees as Israel's enduring weaknesses in relief: not arrogance, but self-doubt, self-analysis and self-criticism, all carried to near-suicidal degrees in 1967. Arab policy, by contrast, featured a confident commitment to erasing Israel from the map. The Six Day War shook that confidence, he finds, but did not alter the commitment. About the nature of Israeli policy since the war, the book says little, but finds that "for all its military conquests, Israel was still incapable of imposing the peace it craved."

From Library Journal
In perhaps one of the most valuable recent works on this subject, Oren, a scholar and Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center, Jerusalem, details events from the Six Day War known in the Arab world as Al-Naksah (the setback) or simply the June war. The book's value lies in its focus and extensive documentation of multilingual resources, including archives, newspapers, reports, books, interviews, and Internet sites. In addition, Oren covers the international, regional, and domestic implications of the war and uses maps to illustrate the geographical changes and military strategies. Many books, e.g., Ahron Bregman's Israel's War: 1947-1993, Tibi Bassam's Conflict and War in the Middle East, 1967-91, and Eric Hammel's Six Days in June, cover a broader period, rely heavily on analysis, or fall short of objectivity. While Oren also recounts some necessary historical context for understanding the war's catalysts and discussing its aftermath, he primarily focuses on the pivotal six days of conflict, dedicating a full chapter for each day. Predictably, the most controversial information is his new findings on an Egyptian top-secret plan that came very close to eradicating Israel's army and nuclear power plant. While this is an essential addition for academic libraries, the book's exhaustive documentary style makes it a lesser candidate for public libraries. Ethan Pullman, Univ. of Pittsburgh Lib.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Robert L. Pollock, Wall Street Journal
"Oren brings a novelist's flair to recounting...the war. His meticulous research cuts through the propagandized histories on all sides."

Customer Reviews

Very In-Depth - Covers All Aspects of Six-Day War
Oren begins by looking at the context surrounding the Six-Day War. He looks at Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and their Syrian support, the plight of hundreds of thousands of displaced and angry Palestinians (from the 1948 war), Israel's eternal belief that it is both invincible and weak, the fighting between King Hussein, Nasser, and Syria's divided leadership and how it led to a need to turn the attention on a unifying foe (Israel), Arab disunity, etc. Looking at all these things and many more, Oren seeks to explain how the Arabs and Israelis stumbled into the Six-Day War. I thought this part was fascinating for the most part; Oren really touches every aspect in an attempt to explain the war's "context and causes." If anything, however, I thought he touched on too many things, as this part of the book lingered on for a while (roughly 150 pages).

For the remainder of the book, Oren writes one chapter per day of fighting (plus an "Aftershocks" conclusion). These pages are brilliantly written with such fine detail. Oren really did his research. He quotes people during and after battle, results of government-done studies, prior-classified documents, etc. The level of detail is AMAZING. He looks at the states of mind of military commanders, their ambitions and goals, inter-goverment rivalries, etc (for both the Israelis and the Arabs).

When reading books on this part of the world, bias is an important thing to note (as it should color your acceptance of their work and opinions). Oren is definitely biased toward the Israelis (I believe, after all, that he is Israeli). That said, I would consider him only slightly-to-moderately biased; he retains a good deal of objectivity and portrays some Israelis in a negative or objective light.

This is a fantastic book for serious students of the Middle East or those interested in military history. It details maneuvers, tactics and strategies, etc of the military campaign - very interesting. Also, for a war book, there is very little description of gore (if you cannot watch the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, you can still read this book).

All in all, this is an excellent book and I recommend it highly.

How the Middle East Changed Forever in Six Days
I originally read this book based on a favorable reference by Washington Post op-ed columnist Charles Krauthammer. The Six Day War is one of the most pivotal events in modern Middle East History. It is when Israel took control of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. This is why you often hear pro-Palestinian pundits demand for Israel to return to its pre-1967 borders, meaning the borders before this war.

The Six Day War is also when five Arabs nations suffered an ignominious defeat that eventually led to the decline of the Arab Nationalist movement. Michael Oren is exceptional at recreating the incredibly tense days before this war. Syria remilitarizes the Golan Heights. The United Nations Emergency Forces are withdrawn from Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Egypt re-militarizes the Sinai Peninsula and blockades the vital Straits of Tiran. Arab nationalist fanatics are calling to "push the Jews into the sea." King Hussein of Jordan, while on a shaky relationship with Egyptian President Nasser, signs a pact to fight alongside Egypt. All the while President Johnson of the U.S. is warning Israel not to "start the war." (!) How could the Israeli Defense Forces overcome such great odds, let alone in six days!?

If you want to read about the Six Day War, you will not find a better book. Not only is this book highly respected for its factual content, it also is very exciting to read.

Required Reading for Understanding the Current Middle East Situation
A very thorough and engaging book, "Six Days of War" was virtually impossible for me to put down. This is 'required reading' for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of current issues in the Middle East. the book will also be of assistance in understanding the rise of Pan-Arabism and Nasserism, the situation with the Occupied Territories (West Bank and Gaza), the fate of Jerusalem (even now the subject of
contentious debate between Israel and the Palestinians) and Israel's (uneasy) relations with the Arab nations which surround her. Oren does an excellent job in presenting all sides of this complex war, as both the Arab nations and the Israelis have a compelling story to tell. If you are planning a trip to Israel anytime in the future, put this book at the top of your reading list!