A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel

by Gudrun Krämer, Graham Harman (Translator)

It is impossible to understand Palestine today without a careful reading of its distant and recent past. But until now there has been no single volume in English that tells the history of the events--from the Ottoman Empire to the mid-twentieth century--that shaped modern Palestine. The first book of its kind, A History of Palestine offers a richly detailed interpretation of this critical region's evolution.

Starting with the prebiblical and biblical roots of Palestine, noted historian Gudrun Krämer examines the meanings ascribed to the land in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. Paying special attention to social and economic factors, she examines the gradual transformation of Palestine, following the history of the region through the Egyptian occupation of the mid-nineteenth century, the Ottoman reform era, and the British Mandate up to the founding of Israel in 1948. Focusing on the interactions of Arabs and Jews, A History of Palestine tells how these connections affected the cultural and political evolution of each community and Palestine as a whole.

Genres: History, Middle East, Nonfiction, Israel, Politics, Islam, Religion

376 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Dave Schoettinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1984 George Orwell writes, "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." This goes a long way toward explaining why, whether you are a governor revising your state's history textbooks, or a failed presidential candidate mounting another campaign, it is important to have a description of history that suits your purposes.

Nowhere is the historic narrative more contentious than in Palestine, and Gudrun Kramer realized the challenge of creating a non-partisan history of the area before authoring this book. By and large she has succeeded in that she has probably included items in this book that will enrage Israelis, Palestinians, and anybody else with an emotional stake in the historical and on-going conflicts in that area. She has combed through a lot of statistical records and describes circumstances that might compromise their accuracy. She does the same with many first-person accounts of the period. Unfortunately, the result is often a narrative as dry as the Negev, but I have to give her a lot of credit for undertaking this thankless task.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a scholarly, thoroughly researched history of Palestine for the period 1514-1949. It's a history that is complex, tangled and difficult to unravel. There are numerous contending forces involved, both local and international and all have differing and shifting points of view, objectives and strategies. It's complicated, serious stuff.

The writing is academic, factual, unbiased and rather dry. The book is brimming with facts and detail without a trace of fluff or filler. This is not a light read; it requires one's attention. That said, it's a work of history that is informative, rich in detail and interesting - in spades.

I chose this book because I wanted to better understand the roots of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. Having read it, I can say that the author has provided much more than I expected and done so in a neutral, academic style that is based on documented facts. I've learned a great deal from this book and I commend the author for this valuable work.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense, sober, and evenhanded account of the complex events in Palestine leading up to the creation of the state of Israel. It was born in blood and injustice, and the war that precipitated its formation is not yet resolved.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was leaning more towards two stars on this because of the writing style, which tended more towards a dry presentation of the facts than drawing common threads between them. As this was the first book I have read on this period, I was hoping for a description of general themes. I gave the author the benefit of the doubt in my rating, because I did learn a great deal. Many of the facts surprised me. From what I can tell, there was relatively little religious tension in this region before the advent of European Zionism; in fact much less than there was in Europe. Initial resistance to Zionism was more of a nationalistic character than religious: Christians and Muslims banded together in alliances, and even many Arab Jews resented the influx of European Jews because they feared Bolshevism. If I had one wish for this book, I would wish that the author had gone into more depth about 18th century Palestine. She said that the population decreased by about 1/3 during this time because of the many wars, but did not describe these wars in any more detail than that.

[Roberto Treviño Iturbide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Importante lectura para comprender la historia de Palestina. Por momentos puede ser aburrido o abrumador, debido a que el texto es bastante académico, pero la cantidad de datos e información presentada elevan la calidad. Como ya comentaban aquí en otra reseña, es curioso que los conflictos entre árabes musulmanes y cristianos, y los judíos se haya originado por cuestiones nacionalistas más que religiosas. Las últimas 30 páginas fueron lo más interesante: el preludio a la creación del Estado de Israel. Atrocidades cometidas en ambos lados y que, hasta el día de hoy, se siguen cometiendo.

Recomiendo la lectura para ayudar a comprender el tema.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I have a lot to learn on this topic, this is one of the most helpful books I have read on the topic. Krämer looks more in-depth at the patterns of the Palestinian economy, Jewish settlement, and Jewish purchases of land than other sources that I have read, and the book seems to be fair to both sides.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! The best exposition of the history of the Palestinian issue that I've read to date. Well documented and dispassionate in-depth analysis. Very readable even if a bit dry. But that's the price you pay for the lack of sensationalism.

[Tere Izquierdo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No es necesariamente un libro que recomendaría a cualquiera, porque es muy académico y de ahí la valoración.

No obstante, de contenido, para quien tenga interés (y creo que con la situación actual deberíamos ser todos) está muy bien. No polariza, hay datos positivo y negativos de ambas partes.

[Jorge Martín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un estudio perfecto sobre la cuestión palestina a través de la historia, bastante objetivo e imparcial.
Me ha gustado especialmente por tratar la última fase del dominio otomano y el Mandato británico, que a veces se suelen pasar por alto.

[Lukas Kemperdick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wenn man sich das nur alles merken könnte. Man könnte es ständig gebrauchen.

[Aaron Sabin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastically informative review of the history of Palestine leading up to the creation of the state of Israel. The most important thing to do when reading a history of this conflict is to focus on the facts, rather than how they are presented. There are lots of facts in here, and they are presented in a sensible timeline that really makes you feel like you understand the progression of various forces. Like every history, this one is presented in a biased way (in favor of the Palestinians in this case), though not egregiously so. The author is critical of the Arab leadership, though she saves her strongest words and incredulity for the Jews. In order to navigate this conflict, one must read many histories and synthesize them on one’s own. This is one such history, and it’s an excellent one to bring into the fold of one’s understanding. It’s a dense book, so make sure you have the time and space to absorb it.

[Sergio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro denso, sin duda, pero claramente sirve referencia. La bibliografía es extremadamente amplia, el libro está lleno de anotaciones y los capítulos van al detalle. Y aunque esto a veces se hace pesado, es necesario, ¿o cómo podemos entender la compra de tierras por parte de la Jewish Agency sin conocer la estructura de la propiedad agraria del Imperio Otomano?

El libro, tal como adelanta el título, acaba justo con la fundación del Estado de Israel, y creo que esto es lo que hace que este ensayo sea tan profundo: nos hace entender que el conflicto es muy anterior a la misma. A veces se pone mucho el foco en la Segunda Guerra mundial, olvidando que la Declaración de Balfour se escribió en 1917, lo que marcaría el pecado original del Mandato Británico.

En definitiva, un libro de referencia y consulta, y de urgencia. Una reflexión profunda que empezando por los relatos bíblicos, el reino de David y la conquista babilónica, nos guía hasta llegar a la segunda guerra mundial y los primeros pasos de la sociedad de naciones.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely well documented book about history that I knew little of. It is a rather academic type history book—objective, documented facts. Yet the language is not overly complex or inaccessible. And the telling of the history does not seem to be overly biased. I chose this book as it seems to be one of few histories of the founding of the state of Israel that is not told exclusively from a Jewish perspective. The text seems to present an objective view including both Arab and Jewish motivations and happenings.
At first I thought that the organization was going to be too complex to follow, but it turned out to be a good structure that helped me make sense of a complex and previously unknown situation.
I am still marveling at dynamic population changes in the area of Palestine from before WWI through the end of WWII.
I'm not sure I would call it a compelling read, but with a little innate curiosity about the region and history, it didn't lull me to sleep.

[Gerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

In diesem Buch stecken sehr viele Daten und Fakten. Es ist daher sicherlich als Referenzwerk für die wissenschaftliche Beschäftigung mit dem Thema gut geeignet. Ein echter Lesefluss will aber nicht aufkommen. Die Dichte an sozioökonomischen Zahlen, Namen und Ortsangaben machen das ganze doch sehr trocken. Ich habe es daher auch nicht ganz zu Ende gelesen.

Was aber gut ist an dem Buch ist, dass die verschiedenen Perspektiven sehr gut herausgearbeitet werden: Die jüdische, auch nochmals unterteilt in Zionisten und Nicht-Zionisten. Die arabische, Palästinenser wie auch andere arab. Staaten. Die der Kolonialmächte, speziell die britische.

Steiningers Buch über den Nahostkonflikt wiederum war zwar besser lesbar, aber mir dann auch wieder etwas zu oberflächlich. Das für meine Bedürfnisse ideale Werk über die Geschichte Palästinas habe ich leider noch nicht gefunden.

[Irene (Einlesewurm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro imprescindible para comprender los orígenes de un conflicto que continúa siendo tan actual.
Pese a ser por momentos un relato denso (ya que no es un ensayo como tal, sino más bien un libro académico de historia, con multitud de datos, fechas y nombres), es en su conjunto una obra muy relevante, perfecto preludio a otros libros que se centran más en los conflictos posteriores a la creación del Estado de Israel y/o los episodios de violencia de las últimas décadas.

[Maxim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guter Überblick über die Geschichte Palästinas vom späten Osmanischen Reich bis zur Staatsgründung Israels. Die Betrachtung ist umfassend und nimmt politische, wirtschaftliche, demographische Entwicklungen in den Blick sowie die beginnenden (und bald eskalierenden) Konflikte zwischen arabischer und jüdischer Bevölkerung. Krämer ist dabei ausgewogen und gibt damit einen guten Einblick in Ursprünge und Hintergründe des (anhaltenden) Konflikts.

[Kimberly Madden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like you really have to have some background knowledge to understand/get a lot out of this book. I wouldn’t recommend it for someone like me, who has very little knowledge of the history/geography/political climate of the near/middle east and just wants to learn a little history of Israel and Palestine.

[Lou Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Class
I actually enjoyed this book! It was informative and full of sources. I think it was in-depth and did a good job at remaining mostly impartial, provided a good starting point for people who lack a background in this history.

[Julian Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history of Palestine that engages with some of the most controversial issues, mostly focusing on the British Mandate period. Kramer does a good job of fairly representing Arab and Zionist perspectives and using a wide variety of both Arab and Jewish sources.

[Javi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buen repaso a la historia de Palestina. Cuenta con precisión y ecuanimidad la cadena de sucesos hasta llegar al momento actual y la naturaleza colonial del conflicto.

[gideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

written in the most obtuse, confusing, and disorganized way

[David Silveyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an insightful and straightforward discussion on Palestine, and though playing a smaller role in this book, Israel. I learned about the Balfour Declaration, Mandate, makeup of different sections of the Holy Land, and various other things. I got a sense of the lay of the land with various maps and pictures included, too. The book only covered the history of Palestine up until the formation of Israel. There was much death, destruction, and animosity between the Arabs and Jews. There is a true animosity that has transcended borders and continues unabated to this day. All in all, a book that clearly shows a stark, and equally dangerous, land beset by much conflict.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because I wanted to understand the roots of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and I finally found the answers to my questions in the last third of the book. The first few chapters helped me recognize the disproportionate weight given to the Jews' biblical claims to the land when measured against those of the Arabs. What I found less interesting, however, was the center bulk of the book, which focused on the makeup and administration of Ottoman-era Palestine. While it appeared to be based on solid research, to me it didn't as relevant to the current crisis, and therefore less interesting. I would have rather read just excerpts from "A History of Palestine." By the way, Graham Harman is the translator. The author of the book is Gudrun Kramer.

[Edward Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good background covering the period from 1900 to the War of 1948. Pretty balanced considering there is still little or no access to Arab records of the times. Illustrates the dismal state of any kind of Arab unity and the focus of the Jews on their goal. I liked the dissection of the analogy of David vs Goliath. It was more like David against a bunch of smaller and less organized Davids. The book also shows how Arab denial of reality really goes back a long way. The author also touches on how myth building on both sides has stood in the way of any kind of solution.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dry and academic, but I now have a much greater understanding of the region. Groups on all sides of the present day conflicts have many reasons to feel like they have gotten the shaft.

[Carly R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read, detailed and interesting.
I liked the impartial tone of the book in particular.