Heroic Diplomacy

by Kenneth W. Stein

From the prelude of the October 1973 Middle East war through the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in March 1979, Kenneth W. Stein grippingly traces American involvement in the Arab-Israeli negotiations. He provides an extraordinary range of first-hand accounts, recollections and anecdotes from over eighty bureaucrats, diplomats and military leaders who participated in Arab-Israeli peace talks in the 1970's and since. Since the official public record remains unavailable for reasons of national security, these interviews provide unequaled insight into the internal divisions, political intrigue and untold stories of the peace process. Charting the complex and often contradictory goals of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, the US and the USSR, Stein chronicles the evolution of these negotiations and analyzes the key roles of Sadat, Kissinger, Carter, and Begin. An introduction and epilogue place this period in context of Arab-Israeli history since 1948 and the current status of the peace process.

360 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 1999

Reviews

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no doubt that this is an excellent book. But, you have to do prior research before reading it, or at least I did. The book is about the Arab Israeli conflict during the 70's, and since I only have studied it up until the 1967 war, I started the book quite confused. Although I did learn a bit about the conflict during this time, throughout much of the story I couldn't follow it, because of the mentions of all the people I didn't know about. I also think the density of information that makes up the book made it that much more confusing for me. I may do some more research on the conflict in the 70's, then give a second go on this book. Which, I am sure, is a great book, if you are educated in what they're discussing.