A State at Any Cost, Tom Segev
A State at Any Cost, Tom Segev
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A State at Any Cost
The Life of David Ben-Gurion

Author: Tom Segev, Haim Watzman

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Unabridged: 31 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/19/2019

Synopsis

In this definitive biography, Israel's leading journalist-historian Tom Segev uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around the Ben-Gurion. Segev's probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion's relentless activity across six decades. Along the way, Segev reveals for the first time Ben-Gurion's secret negotiations with the British on the eve of Israel's independence, his willingness to countenance the forced transfer of Arab neighbors, his relative indifference to Jerusalem, and his occasional "nutty moments". Segev also reveals that Ben-Gurion first heard about the Holocaust from a Palestinian Arab acquaintance, and explores his tempestuous private life, including the testimony of four former lovers.

The result is a full and startling portrait of a man who sought a state "at any cost"—at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev's Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor who belongs in the company of Lenin or Churchill.

About Tom Segev

Tom Segev is among Israel's leading journalists and historians. His works include The Seventh Million; 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East; Simon Wiesenthal; and One Palestine, Complete (chosen one of ten best books of 2000 by the New York Times).

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brett

This book was intensive and loaded in details pertaining to David Ben-Gurion and the creation of the State of Israel. He was born and raised in Plonsk, Poland, took up Zionism and the Zionist vision, and eventually led Israel to being an international player by the 1950s and 1960s. The book showcase......more

Goodreads review by Steven

A STATE AT ANY COST: THE LIFE OF DAVID BEN-GURION is an apt title for Israeli journalist and historian Tom Segev’s new biography of Israel’s first Prime Minister. Segev is a prolific writer who is the author of seven books ranging from a biography of Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal; THE SEVENTH MILLION......more

Goodreads review by Julian

I would say 3.5 stars. The first half of the book is long and onerous. Contains too many irrelevant details to the life of Ben-Gurion and can get kind of repetitive. I understand that he was a unique man with a lot of internal conflicts, but Mr. Segev wrote that in every chapter with the idea that t......more

Goodreads review by Clif

David Ben-Gurion was born in 1886 in Poland and died in 1971 in Israel. His activity as a Zionist began in his teenage years and continued without interruption for the rest of his life. He is rightfully called the father of Israel, the establishment and development of which was his first concern at......more

Goodreads review by Mandy

Tom Segev is a leading Israeli historian and this is a meticulously researched, thorough and cogent, if perhaps controversial, biography of David Ben-Gurion. Segev is associated with the revisionist, or “new” historians who often challenge Israel’s founding narratives. Whether this has coloured his......more

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