In December 2017, US President Donald Trump stunned the world by announcing that the United States would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and would relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv. It was a decision that provoked scorn and anger from many nations but which was applauded by Israel. Trump's decision offered the latest twist in the Israeli-Palestinian saga: two peoples on an everlasting - and seemingly irreconcilable - path to peace.
Israel and Palestine: The Complete History seeks to explain the overall story of Israeli and Palestinian tensions and divisions in the region. Indeed, without properly understanding the full history of the area, it is impossible to understand the current situation.
In this book, author Ian Carroll takes the reader back to the very beginning of the conflict some 4,000 years ago, then moves through the major events of the Middle Ages and 20th century, and brings us right up to the present day, documenting the significant events that have happened along the way. The reader is allowed to make up their own mind as to where praise and condemnation belong with this complicated issue.
From Exodus to the birth of Jesus, from Islam to the Crusades, through the Diaspora and up to the recreation of the modern state of Israel and beyond, Israel and Palestine: The Complete History avoids a dry academic approach. It aims to tell the history of the region and peoples in a balanced and brisk fashion, from a storyteller's perspective.
With talk of a Third Intifada and President Trump's recent announcement on Jerusalem all bringing this age-old issue to the forefront of world news once more, there has never been a more appropriate time to understand and appreciate Israel and Palestine's history.
Note: This is an updated, expanded, and re-edited version of "Israel / Palestine - a 4000 year history" by Ian Carroll, originally published in 2006.
