The Six-Day War

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What to expect

One fateful week in June 1967 redrew the map of the Middle East. Many scholars have documented how the Six-Day War unfolded, but little has been done to explain why the conflict happened at all. As we approach its fiftieth anniversary, Guy Laron refutes the widely accepted belief that the war was merely the result of regional friction, revealing the crucial roles played by American and Soviet policies in the face of an encroaching global economic crisis, and restoring Syria’s often overlooked centrality to events leading up to the hostilities.

The Six-Day War effectively sowed the seeds for the downfall of Arab nationalism, the growth of Islamic extremism, and the animosity between Jews and Palestinians. In this important new work, Laron’s fresh interdisciplinary perspective and extensive archival research offer a significant reassessment of a conflict—and the trigger-happy generals behind it—that continues to shape the modern world.

Critics Review

  • “In this fine work, Guy Laron, a young historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, takes a fresh look at the war and its causes…Like all the best history, Laron’s book is studded with fascinating facts and anecdotes that shed light on his theories.”

    Sunday Times (London)

  • “Since the thirty-year declassification rule opened up the Israel State Archives to researchers in 1997, a number of books…have recast the David and Goliath myth that had risen up around the events of May and June 1967. Israel is no longer seen as the weak and passive actor threatened with a second Holocaust and forced into a pre-emptive attack, but as a confident strategist taking advantage of Egypt and Syria’s blundering brinkmanship to fulfill a long-planned expansion…A new history of the lead-up to the war by Guy Laron, The Six-Day War…reinforces this narrative..This was a boost to uncompromising nationalistic visions on both sides, giving birth to a messianic settler movement and violent strains of Palestinian terrorism.”

    New York Times

  • “A lively study…his work is to be commended.”

    American Historical Review

  • “Israel today has a raft of ‘post-Zionist’ academics and journalists for whom everything the country has done is a standing moral reproach. Writing more in sorrow than in anger, Guy Laron takes a different approach, examining how and why the war occurred at all.”

    Literary Review (London)

  • “Both impressive and disheartening…it should be required reading for President-elect Donald Trump. Readers will learn that it’s sometimes much easier for leaders to go to war than to make peace…At the very least, we ordinary citizens should read it.”

    Jewish News Service

  • “Drawing upon interdisciplinary knowledge and exhaustive archival research, The Six-Day War is a sober, edifying, and highly recommended contribution to public and college library audiobook collections.”

    Midwest Book Review

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