Ian J. Bickerton – författare

The Illusion of Victory demonstrates that most of the rewards of victory in modern warfare are either exaggerated or false. When the ostensible benefits of victory are examined a generation after a war, it becomes inescapably evident that the defeated belligerent rarely conforms to the demands and expectations of the victor. Consequently, long-term political and military stability is denied to both the victorious power and to the defeated one. As a result, neither victory nor defeat deter further outbreaks of war. This sobering reality is increasingly the case in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Ian Bickerton persuasively argues that as the rhetoric of victory becomes more hollow all countries must adopt creative new approaches to resolving disputes.

Comprehensive and analytical, A History of the Arab–Israeli Conflict presents a balanced and impartial overview of this centuries-old struggle. Taking a clear and chronological approach to this complex subject, and placing events in the context of their longer-term histories, Ian J. Bickerton and Carla L. Klausner examine the issues and themes that have characterized and defined the conflict over the course of its history, bringing the coverage up to date with a twenty-first-century perspective. Starting in the nineteenth century, the book moves through the British Mandate, World War II, and the proclamation of the state of Israel, the widening and deepening conflict and attempts at a peace process, the impacts of 9/11 and the Arab Spring, and finally it discusses events to the end of 2021. In a completely revised Conclusion the authors examine how we interpret many of the startling, rapidly changing, and somewhat unpredictable events of the last five years. Illustrated throughout with numerous photographs, updated maps, tables, and chronologies for each chapter, together with extensive relevant and up-to-date documentary sources, further reading, and a glossary of key terms, it is the ideal textbook for all students of the history of the modern Middle East.

Comprehensive and analytical, A History of the Arab–Israeli Conflict presents a balanced and impartial overview of this centuries-old struggle. Taking a clear and chronological approach to this complex subject, and placing events in the context of their longer-term histories, Ian J. Bickerton and Carla L. Klausner examine the issues and themes that have characterized and defined the conflict over the course of its history, bringing the coverage up to date with a twenty-first-century perspective. Starting in the nineteenth century, the book moves through the British Mandate, World War II, and the proclamation of the state of Israel, the widening and deepening conflict and attempts at a peace process, the impacts of 9/11 and the Arab Spring, and finally it discusses events to the end of 2021. In a completely revised Conclusion the authors examine how we interpret many of the startling, rapidly changing, and somewhat unpredictable events of the last five years. Illustrated throughout with numerous photographs, updated maps, tables, and chronologies for each chapter, together with extensive relevant and up-to-date documentary sources, further reading, and a glossary of key terms, it is the ideal textbook for all students of the history of the modern Middle East.

Though more than sixty years have passed since the signing of the proclamation of the State of Israel, the impact of that epochal event continues to shape the political policies and public opinion of not only the Middle East but much of the world. The consequent conflict between Arabs and Israelis for sovereignty over the land of Palestine has been one of the most bloody, intractable and drawn-out of modern times. It continues today in cycles of aggressive violence followed by temporary and tenuous ceasefires that are marked and complicated by resolute opinions and fractious religious ideologies. In this timely analysis, noted military historian Ian J. Bickerton cuts through the complex perspectives in order to explain this struggle in objective detail, describing its history from the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following World War I to the present day.In concise and clear prose, Bickerton argues that the present problem can be traced to the fact that each side is trapped by visions of their past from which they seem unable to break free. This attachment and reaction to history has negatively influenced the decision-making of Arabs and Israelis since 1948. Ultimately, Bickerton insists that the use of armed force has not, and will not, resolve the issues that have divided Israelis and Arabs.The Arab-Israeli Conflict is a plea for reasoned diplomacy in a situation that has been dominated by extreme violence. This book will appeal to a wide general audience seeking a balanced understanding of this enduring struggle that still dominates headlines.

It is almost impossible to imagine the United States without making reference to Italy. There is scarcely any aspect of American culture untouched  by Italy—its history, art, architecture, fashion, film, music, the mafia, or even more viscerally its food. Italy occupies a space of near mythical proportion in the American imagination. When many Americans think of, or dream about and imagine, the good life, how and where they would like to live, they think most often of Italy; the beauty, the life-style, the romance, the excitement and sense of adventure that Italy offers.By looking at the fluid and multi-dimensional imaginative interactions Americans have with Italian culture and society, this comprehensive and robust volume offers a new and novel way of exploring the influence of Italy upon the United States. University of New South Wales historian Ian James Bickerton argues that if we wish to understand the United States, and how Americans define themselves and their nation, it is vital to examine how they imagine themselves, and he demonstrates that throughout U.S. history one of the most powerful stimulants shaping the imaginary world of Americans has been Italy.

It is almost impossible to imagine the United States without making reference to Italy. There is scarcely any aspect of American culture untouched  by Italy—its history, art, architecture, fashion, film, music, the mafia, or even more viscerally its food. Italy occupies a space of near mythical proportion in the American imagination. When many Americans think of, or dream about and imagine, the good life, how and where they would like to live, they think most often of Italy; the beauty, the life-style, the romance, the excitement and sense of adventure that Italy offers.By looking at the fluid and multi-dimensional imaginative interactions Americans have with Italian culture and society, this comprehensive and robust volume offers a new and novel way of exploring the influence of Italy upon the United States. University of New South Wales historian Ian James Bickerton argues that if we wish to understand the United States, and how Americans define themselves and their nation, it is vital to examine how they imagine themselves, and he demonstrates that throughout U.S. history one of the most powerful stimulants shaping the imaginary world of Americans has been Italy.