This book, recommended by a local Jewish book club, surprised me in the fair & balanced nature of the research and scholarship involved in this tricky subject; yet, Schneer, a British labour historian employed copious first-hand sources to unravel the bewildering labyrinth that was British Middle East policy during the First World War. He was not defending Zionism, nor British imperialism nor the Arab revolt of the time; rather, he focused on the myriad ways diplomacy, imperialism, nationalism and Zionism intersected through the mechanisms of the "cast of thousands" who people this captivating history. The Balfour Declaration itself, a short denouement of political hubris on the part of the British Foreign Office to win over the world's dispersed Jews to their side in this "war to end all wars," is anti-climactic when measured against the promises they handed out like candy to the Arabs who fought for them against the Turks, their French & Russian allies and any other group who could assist in the war effort. Nothing describes the last faltering years if the storied British world Empire better than this duplicitous and often arrogant display of the "white man's burden" run amok in its imperial nation-building endeavor. Schneer clearly posits the fact that the British had no real intentions to meet her postwar obligations as the Paris Peace talks revealed in 1919. Taking us through this confusing yet essential journey of understanding some of the foundations of Arab-Israeli discontent in a readable manner, he had made this topic available to many who may have found earlier works too broad, to biased or too laden with footnotes to pursue. As a lecturer of Middle East history for the past 35 years, I would strongly endorse this book's inclusion in everyone's course syllabus and private library.
No comments:
Post a Comment