What do you think?
To Win or to Die: A Personal Portrait of Menachem Begin
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 11, 2024
I figured this would take some days to read, but the author wrote extremely well, and he kept me reading. There were a couple of spots that bored me because some of the foreign-sounding names were confusing, but on balance, this is a fascinating biography of the man who guided Israel through the turbulent Carter years and the somewhat less turbulent Reagan ones.
If you read this, you’ll learn about Begin’s childhood in Poland, his imprisonment in Russia, his enduring marriage to the love of his life, and his repeated attempts to achieve the Israeli prime minister position.
You’ll read about Begin, the fighting Jew, and the various wars and revolts in which he participated. I was both saddened and intrigued to read about Begin’s long-time feud and hatred for David Ben-Gurion, the man considered by most to be the founder of the modern state of Israel. Those two eventually gained some intimations of friendship, but the two were never close.
The chapters on the Camp David Accords, signed in the late ‘70s, are can’t-miss ones. You’ll be blown away by jimmy Carter’s apparent dislike for Begin and his kiss-and-cuddle routine with Anwar Sadat. You hear Carter make some of the same arguments Biden makes when he withholds weaponry from Israel today. History may not repeat itself, but wow, can it ever rhyme.
While trying to combat rebellion from Lebanon in the early ‘80s, Begin encountered anger and pushback from Reagan who, like Biden today, withheld arms shipments to the Israelis because he didn’t like the way it was conducting a war. In my naïve stupidity, I assumed the Biden “no bombs for you” situation of today was some kind of new thing. I suspect the Israelis aren’t surprised by this kind of behavior from American leaders by now.
In short, this is an excellent biography that is highly readable. I’ve been letting it take up clusters on my hard drive for years now, and I’m thrilled I didn’t just delete it unread.
If you read this, you’ll learn about Begin’s childhood in Poland, his imprisonment in Russia, his enduring marriage to the love of his life, and his repeated attempts to achieve the Israeli prime minister position.
You’ll read about Begin, the fighting Jew, and the various wars and revolts in which he participated. I was both saddened and intrigued to read about Begin’s long-time feud and hatred for David Ben-Gurion, the man considered by most to be the founder of the modern state of Israel. Those two eventually gained some intimations of friendship, but the two were never close.
The chapters on the Camp David Accords, signed in the late ‘70s, are can’t-miss ones. You’ll be blown away by jimmy Carter’s apparent dislike for Begin and his kiss-and-cuddle routine with Anwar Sadat. You hear Carter make some of the same arguments Biden makes when he withholds weaponry from Israel today. History may not repeat itself, but wow, can it ever rhyme.
While trying to combat rebellion from Lebanon in the early ‘80s, Begin encountered anger and pushback from Reagan who, like Biden today, withheld arms shipments to the Israelis because he didn’t like the way it was conducting a war. In my naïve stupidity, I assumed the Biden “no bombs for you” situation of today was some kind of new thing. I suspect the Israelis aren’t surprised by this kind of behavior from American leaders by now.
In short, this is an excellent biography that is highly readable. I’ve been letting it take up clusters on my hard drive for years now, and I’m thrilled I didn’t just delete it unread.
December 15, 2013
An excellent biography of a great man. Menachem Begin was in Warsaw during the time of my novel-in-progress. I have already written scenes where he meets and later defends Anna Gorska, my main Polish fictional character. These activities, while of course fictional, are totally consistent with Begin's real-life details. More such scenes to come. LEW ... http://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews