About the Book
In Israel and the West it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War, or simply as "the Setback." Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in West Bank, the intifada and the rise of Palestinian terror: all are part of the outcome of those six days of
intense Arab-Israeli fighting in the summer of 1967. Michael B. Oren's Six Days of War is the most comprehensive history ever published of this dramatic and pivotal event, the first to explore
it both as a military struggle and as a critical episode in the global Cold War. Oren spotlights all the participants--Arab, Israeli, Soviet, and American--telling the story of how the war broke out and of the shocking ways it unfolded. Drawing on thousands of top-secret documents, on rare papers in Russian and Arabic, and on exclusive personal interviews, Six Days of War recreates the regional and international context which, by the late 1960s, virtually assured an
Arab-Israeli conflagration. Also examined are the domestic crises in each of the battling states, and the extraordinary personalities--Moshe Dayan and Gamal Abdul Nasser, Hafez al-Assad and Yitzhak Rabin, Lyndon
Johnson and Alexei Kosygin--that precipitated this earthshaking clash.
About the Author :
Michael B. Oren is the author of The Origins of the Second Arab-Israeli War, and has written extensively on Middle Eastern history and diplomatic affairs. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in Middle East studies, and has served as Director of Israel's Department of Inter-Religious Affairs in the government of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and as an advisor to the Israeli delegation to the United Nations. He is
currently a Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.
Review :
"An excellent new history of the 1967 war."--David Remnick, The New Yorker
"In Michael Oren's richly detailed and lucid account, the familiar story is thrilling once again....What makes this book important is the breadth and depth of the research...[H]e uses many Arab memoirs and accounts, giving the book a balanced tone and offering fascinating new details. 'Six Days of War,' coming soon after Israel--on a 30 year declassification rule--opened its archies on 1967, is a powerful rendering of what has turned out to be a
world-historical event."--Gary J. Bass, The New York Times Book Review
"This is a masterly book....With a remarkably assured style, Oren elucidates nearly every aspect of the conflict....In writing his strategic chronicle, Oren has also drawn the most penetrating and subtle assessment of the Israeli mind that I've encountered....Oren's will remain the authoritative chronicle of the war. His achievement as a writer and a historian is awesome."--Ben Schwarz, The Atlantic Monthly
"In addition to being a highly readable, even gripping account of the 1967 conflict, Mr. Oren's 'Six Days of War' is also a powerful illustration of the way history mixes basic forces with the accidental and the improvisational....Provides fabulous richness of detail, including fly-on-the-wall accounts of the words and actions of many of the principal actors in places like Moscow and Washington, Damascus, Tel Aviv, and Cairo....He has woven a seamless narrative
out of a staggering variety of diplomatic and military strands....Tragedy is character, as the Greeks understood, and Mr. Oren's masterly account shows how apt that insight is to the tragedy-afflicted
Middle East, past and present."--Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
"A first-rate new account of the conflict."--Michael Kelly, Washington Post
"A magisterial work that is not only riveting reading, but also likely to become the standard work on the war that shaped the contemporary Middle East."--Jack Fischel, Philadelphia Inquirer
"This is not only the best book so far written on the Six Day War, it is likely to remain the best."--Geoffry Wheatcroft, Washington Post Book World
"The most comprehensive chronicle of this crucial turning point in contemporary Middle East history....An elegantly detailed, often riveting account."--Suzy Hansen, Chicago Sun-Times
"The timing, alas, is perfect. Michael Oren's definitive history of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and its aftermath is sure to be the must-read in the White House this month."--New York Magazine
"There have been many books written on the Six Day War, none breaks new ground like this magnificent book does."--Fouad Ajami, NPR
"Oren's book is magisterial. It seems destined to be the definitive study for a long time to come....A rare literary accomplishment--making an oft-told story come alive again."--Ron Grossman, The Chicago Tribune
"This account of how Israel took the West Bank from Jordan, as they grabbed Sinai from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria, is unlikely to be surpassed, so thorough is the research and so compelling the analysis."--Lawrence Freedman, Times Literary Supplement
"As complete an account of the 1967 war as is ever likely to be written. In addition to providing the definitive history of that conflict, 'Six Days of War' offers a valuable perspective on the current troubles in the region."--Newsday
"The brilliance of Oren's work is not in the analysis of how the lightning-quick Israeli victory over Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in 1967 established the foundation for current events....Where the American-born historian excels in 'Six Days of War' is mining dozens of interviews with Arab battlefield leaders and recently released documents from governments in Israel and Russia to provide what might be the most complete synthesis yet of what preceded all the
shooting....Oren's account of the 1967 war stands apart."--Scott Bernard Nelson, The Boston Globe
"Tells the story in gripping detail....One particular virtue of Oren's book is that it pays full attention to the international dimension of the conflict, especially the concerns and the actions of the two superpowers. This allows Oren to set what was in one sense a very local war into its wider context....This book should now be considered the standard work of reference."--Tony Judt, The New Republic
"The definitive study of how we got to where we are in the current Middle East conflict. For anyone interested in facts rather than propaganda, this is it."--Linda Grant, The Guardian
"Masterful and thrilling....Oren's beautifully modulated account of the war, which is drawn from the historical archives of four countries, offers an implicit explanation of the inability or refusal of the U.S. and other Western countries to take Osama bin Laden all that seriously before September 11."--John Podhoretz, National Review
"A near masterpiece of judicious but captivating history....Six Days of War turns out to be a far better guide to the present crisis than what we read and hear daily from our historically ignorant columnists and pundits."--Victor Davis Hanson, Commentary
"In masterly fashion, Oren, an Israeli historian, describes how one move led to another, complete with the accidents and misunderstandings inherent in diplomatic and military manoeuvrings. He has thoroughly explored Israel, American and Russian archives, and made use of such Arab material as exists...while supplementing his narrative by interviewing many who played a part, large or small. This admirable book is likely to be the last word on the six-day war for
a long time."--David Pryce-Jones, The Sunday Times (London)
"The finest book ever on this topic."--Daniel Pipes, National Post (Ontario)
"A meticulous, blow-by-blow history....Altogether a serious and important work....Michael Oren's 'Six Days of War' is a key volume--both to remind us how the modern Middle East came into existence and to teach us what kind of war we are no longer able to fight."--Amitai Etzioni, Weekly Standard
"An elegantly detailed, often riveting account; Oren utilizes formerly top-secret documents to explore the military and diplomatic intricacies."--Salon.com
"The most detailed, the most comprehensive and by far the best-documented history that we have on this short but fateful war....The result is a fast-moving and action-packed narrative that sheds a great deal of new light on all the major participants in the war and on the conflict and cooperation between them."--The Guardian
"This is the most comprehensive history yet of a lightning conflict which devastated the Arab forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, dramatically redrew the borders of the Middle East, and still casts its dark shadow over the region today....Six Days of War scores highly in telling an extremely complicated story within a narrative which, despite being loaded with a crushing volume of research, reads at times like the breeziest blockbuster."--Financial
Times
"A breathtaking history of the 1967 War....Oren is a profoundly talented writer: his grasp and retelling of events, both familiar and unknown, is phenomenal. This book is not only one of the best books in this critical episode in Middle East history; it's one of the best-written books I've read this year, in any genre."--Matthew Miller, Jerusalem Post
"This is the most complete history to date of the Six Day War of 1967....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 destruction 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....This book could very well hit the bestseller list."--Publishers Weekly (boxed, starred
review)
"Oren's exciting diplomatic and military history of these events cleverly moves back and forth between the smoke filled rooms in Tel Aviv, Cairo, Amman, Damascus, Moscow, and Washington and the battlefields in the Sinai, Golan Heights and the West Bank where the fate of the Middle East and the world was being decided."--Rocky Mountain News
"The Six Day War had, and still has, a great influence on Israel, its neighbors, and the current events in the Middle East. Michael B. Oren has presented a detailed and multi-perspective picture of the events and dynamics of that period. It is a significant step toward a better understanding of our national and regional history. Hopefully, such understanding may assist us in reaching peace in the Middle East."--Ehud Barak
"One of the most valuable recent works on the subject....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...[A]n essential addition."--Library Journal
"Michael Oren has taken a fresh and even-handed look at Israel's seminal Six Day War, utilizing recently declassified secret documents, interviews and painstaking research."--Henry Kissinger
"A thoroughgoing analysis of the events that combusted 35 years ago to produce a maelstrom in the Middle East....Oren finds fault on all sides of the conflict, which is sure to earn him critics everywhere he turns. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the history of the troubled region."--Kirkus Reviews
"Michael Oren has combined a scholar's sense of thoroughness with a novelist's sense of drama in writing this polished and gripping history of the 1967 war. Using as many sources as are likely to be available, he has constructed the best account yet of the most momentous event in the modern Middle East--six days that shook the world."--Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International
"Michael Oren has written what is surely the definitive history of the Six Day War: Of course he has examined easily accessible archives but he has also penetrated the files and memories of those who normally impede research in order to make getting at the truth extremely difficult. His narrative is precise but written with great literary flair. The Six Day War is an oft-told tale, but in no one else's study is there more understanding or more
surprise."--Martin Peretz, Publisher, The New Republic
