When I started reading this book, I wasn't very familiar with the details of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and I felt that the book was very argumentative and aggressive. After reading more books on the subject and coming back to this one to finish it, I didn't get that impression. It could be that from Ch.6 on his writing style changed, or it could be that I understood the issue more fully and had gotten over the idea that any attack on Israel is somehow inherently bad. Where did that idea come from anyway?

The Iron Cage is by no means light reading, but it's informative reading and a good supplement to a library of books on the Arab-Israeli / Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Don't let it be your first book on the subject, though.