For this newly expanded edition, Avi Shlaim has added fourchapters and an epilogue that address the prime ministershipsfrom Barak to Netanyahu in the “one book everyoneshould read for a concise history of Israel’s relations withArabs” (Independent). What was promulgated as an “iron-wall”strategy—building a position of unassailable strength—was meant to yield to a further stage where Israel would bestrong enough to negotiate a satisfactory peace with itsneighbors. The goal still remains elusive, if not even furtheraway. This penetrating study brilliantly illuminates past progressand future prospects for peace in the Middle East.
