Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The first comprehensive account of the epoch-making Six-Day War, from the author of Allynow featuring a fiftieth-anniversary retrospective Though it lasted for only six tense days in June, the 1967 Arab-Israeli war never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades, from the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to the ongoing intifada, is a direct consequence of those six days of fighting. Writing with a novelists command of narrative and a historians grasp of fact and motive, Michael B. Oren reconstructs both the lightning-fast action on the battlefields and the political shocks that electrified the world. Extraordinary personalitiesMoshe Dayan and Gamal Abdul Nasser, Lyndon Johnson and Alexei Kosyginrose and toppled from power as a result of this war; borders were redrawn; daring strategies brilliantly succeeded or disastrously failed in a matter of hours. And the balance of power changedin the Middle East and in the world. A towering work of history and an enthralling human narrative, Six Days of War is the most important book on the Middle East conflict to appear in a generation. Praise for Six Days of War Powerful . . . A highly readable, even gripping account of the 1967 conflict . . . [Oren] has woven a seamless narrative out of a staggering variety of diplomatic and military strands.The New York Times With a remarkably assured style, Oren elucidates nearly every aspect of the conflict. . . . Orens [book] will remain the authoritative chronicle of the war. His achievement as a writer and a historian is awesome.The Atlantic Monthly This is not only the best book so far written on the six-day war, it is likely to remain the best.The Washington Post Book World Phenomenal . . . breathtaking history . . . a profoundly talented writer. . . . This book is not only one of the best books on this critical episode in Middle East history; its one of the best-written books Ive read this year, in any genre.The Jerusalem Post [In] Michael Orens richly detailed and lucid account, the familiar story is thrilling once again. . . . What makes this book important is the breadth and depth of the research.The New York Times Book Review A first-rate new account of the conflict.The Washington Post The definitive history of the Six-Day War . . . [Orens] narrative is precise but written with great literary flair. In no one elses study is there more understanding or more surprise.Martin Peretz, Publisher, The New Republic Compelling, perhaps even vital, reading.San Jose Mercury News