Description
Book SynopsisIn the middle of the First World War, the British War Cabinet approved and issued a statement in the form of a letter that encouraged the settlement of the Jewish people in Palestine. Signed by the Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, the Balfour Declaration remains one of the most important documents of the last hundred years.
Jonathan Schneer explores the story behind the declaration and its unforeseen consequences that have shaped the modern world, placing it in context paying attention to the fascinating characters who conceived, opposed and plotted around it - among them Lloyd George, Lord Rothschild, T.E. Lawrence, Prince Faisal and Aubrey Herbert (the man who was Greenmantle''). The Balfour Declaration brings vividly to life the origins of one of the world''s longest lasting and most damaging conflicts.
Trade Review'Splendid ... A marvellously well-researched, balanced, and clear-sighted guide to this hideously controversial territory' * Dominic Sandbrook, Evening Standard *
'Jonathan Schneer's lively new account is very much a tale for our times ... his book is interspersed with delightful vignettes' * David Cesarini, Literary Review *
‘Why did Britain offer the Jews a home in Palestine? Had they not already offered Palestine to the Arabs, two years earlier? This extraordinarily well-documented and revealing book gives the answers' * Martin Gilbert, Mail on Sunday *
‘An excellent and compelling portrait of the intrigues, characters and diplomacy that created the modern Middle East' * Simon Sebag Montefiore *
