Description
Trade ReviewA fortunate meeting between Caplan and the younger Sharett created a winning combination of access, translating prowess and scholarly and editorial skill to bring the diary into focus for English readers. To do this, they have supplemented the original diary with notes that cite private letters, minutes from cabinet meetings and public speeches, which further fill in the historical picture that Sharett meant to record.
The result is a gripping lesson in historical events, key figures and background context that offers a renewed sense of early Israeli political life.
-- Norm Ravvin * The Canadian Jewish News *
The editors did not merely edit and translate the text; they vastly improved on the Hebrew version by adding Sharett's speeches, reports, cabinet minutes, and other sources to the text . . . These additions make this work so important and welcome by all who aspire to understand the foreign and defense policies of Israel in its first decade.
-- Meron Medzini
[T]he most important thing Sharett contributed to the state is the personal diary he wrote during his tenure as prime minister. It is difficult to overstate the importance of those eight volumes to the study of the 1950s and to the understanding of Israeli history as a whole.
-- Tom Segev
These diaries are a valuable resource for scholars interested in Israel and the wider Middle East. They are also an affecting monument to both the political career and the inner life of one of Israel's least appreciated leaders.
-- Alexander Kaye * MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL *
All in all, the translation and production of this diary is a massive piece of work and a significant scholarly achievement. These diaries are a valuable resource for scholars interested in Israel and the wider Middle East. They are also an affecting monument to both the political career and the inner life of one of Israel's least appreciated leaders.
-- Alexander Kaye * Middle East Journal *
The wealth of material enhanced by Sharett's eloquence and per-ceptive eye turn the diary into an indispensable source of Israel's history in its first decade and for several aspects of Israeli politics, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Israel's relationship with the international system. In sum, the large community of researchers and lay readers interested in Israeli politics, Arab-Israeli relations, and Middle Eastern politics should be grateful to Neil Caplan and Yaakov Sharett for this herculean effort.
-- Itamar Rabinovich * BUSTAN: The Middle East Book Review *
This excellent translated edition will help preserve the place in history richly deserved by Sharett—a moderate and cautious leader, an accomplished diplomat, and a believer in the gradual bending of the arc of history toward peace.
-- Ronald W. Zweig - New York University * Journal of Palestine Studies *
