Ploughshares into Swords: From Zionism to Israel »

Arno Mayer is Professor Emeritus of European History at Princeton University. His many books include The Persistence of the Old Regime: Europe to the Great War, The Furies: Violence and Terror in the French and Russian Revolutions, Plowshares into Swords: From Zionism to Israel and Why Did the Heavens Not Darken? The “Final Solution” in History.

An eminent historian returns with an authoritative history of Zionism and Israel.

Publishers Weekly

The latest from professor and author Mayer (Why Did the Heavens Not Darken?: The "Final Solution" in History) is an exhaustive historical investigation into the origins and evolution of the Zionist movement, born in the late 19th Century with a mission to establish a Jewish state, and carried on in never-ending Arab-Israeli conflicts over the Holy Land. Mayer sheds much light on the history of the movement and the region while keeping an eye toward world events, and offers plenty of considered editorializing on policies and actions (like radical retaliation) taken by both sides. As these two groups struggle, drawing in the interest of world powers, Mayer highlights past downfalls and draws simple lessons suggesting that a one-state solution is within grasp. Though Mayer's research is thorough and his opinionated voice engaging, his delivery is erratic, switching topics distractedly and losing focus in copious rants and asides; if readers don't mind some whiplash, they'll find a great deal of intriguing information on the Holy Land's long-standing state of turmoil.
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Prolegomenon 1

1 The Imperial Context: 1890 to the First World War 89

2 Prefiguration: The 1920s 105

3 Gathering Storms 139

4 Realignments 162

5 Collision Courses 194

6 The Cold War: Israel in the World 237

7 The Iron Diplomatic Wall 301

8 The Wages of Hubris 343

Bibliography 411

Index 423