Reviews for Discovering the Past: Making of the UK (Discovering the Past for GCSE)

The average rating for Discovering the Past: Making of the UK (Discovering the Past for GCSE) based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-09-13 00:00:00 John Althaus This is a must read, a reference for anyone who wants a comprehensive understanding of Zionism and its effect on the Middle East. Benny Morris is one of the Israeli "new historians" who punctured the mythology built by Zionists of the creation of Israel. He has been followed by others who take particular aspects of Zionism and Israel as their subject, but Morris set the tone with this book. Starting with the first Jewish immigrants to Palestine from Russia in the 1880's, all of the trials and triumphs of Zionism are covered, along with the steady losses of the indigenous Arabs, with empathy for both. Curiously, his additions to the book after its first publication, that take into account what has happened since the year 2000, fall short of the main work. Perhaps this is proof that time must pass before one can hope to look objectively at events. Morris falls into the same narrative that is heard from Israel's apologists - that Arafat passed up a deal when he refused the offer of land for peace from Ehud Barack. Morris terms this the best deal the Palestinians have ever been offered by Israel. While that is true, it only emphasizes what tiny concessions by Israel have been offered. The West Bank makes up 22% of the area of Palestine before Israel was established and Barack's offer was not even of all of the West Bank. But this is a relatively minor drawback to the book as a whole. The story it tells is of might makes right. There are epic accounts of battle and maps are provided so that the action can be followed. The decisive impact of the holocaust on the creation of Israel is fully covered. Personalities are well presented with no favoritism shown to Israelis, particularly notable in the case of Ariel Sharon. References make up a fifth of the book, so the reader has a wealth of sources for further reading. The summation Morris makes at the end is excellent. If you are short on time, you could do worse than to sit down at a library for 45 minutes and read only the summation. There is no end in sight to the troubles involving Israel. It continues to swallow more territory at the expense of the Palestinians while the United States continues to pour in money to a country that doesn't need it, while issuing only empty statements regarding the continuing oppression (and recently in Gaza, slaughter) of the Palestinians. It's a shameful "special relationship" for America and all American citizens should educate themselves on what they are financing...it certainly has nothing to do with liberty and justice for all. Morris' book is the best single work I have found to learn about how the situation has come to be.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-04-02 00:00:00 Shawn Shafer This book is very, very, long and highly detailed. Although the writing is readable, the level of detail exceeds even my obsessed curiosity about Israeli history and politics. But I would still give it four stars for the research alone, except that I felt the book was lacking in scholarly objectivity. As I mentioned in an update, calling Golda Meir "the ever-self-righteous prime minister" does not impress me as an impartial statement. Worse, though, are the multiple inflammatory allegations of Israeli misdeeds and abuses of power with only the sparsest of footnotes. With all the research and footnoting everywhere else in the book, shouldn't there be footnotes supporting such damning accusations?