Reading Palestine: a Literary Guide looks without prejudice at Israel-Palestine through the eyes of writers from biblical times to the present day, allowing the region to come alive through the pens of such diverse personalities as Napoleon Bonaparte, Gustave Flaubert, Lord Curzon, T. E. Lawrence, Sacheverell Sitwell, Linda Grant & Howard Jacobson. With thematic introductions & explanatory notes, the selection
Includes:: Jewish, Christian, Muslim & secular writings as well as the contrasting narratives of Israeli & Palestinian identity. Before the creation of the nation state, the area was regarded as the Holy Land by all faiths. It was a part of the Ottoman Empire until 1917, then was Mandated to Britain after the First World War. After contradictory promises were made to Arabs & Jews alike, the region has since been disputed in one of the world's longest-running & internationally explosive disputes. This book encompasses the intellectual & social
Dimensions of the conflict, including the foundations of Zionism & the modern growth of Palestinian culture. But it also looks way beyond the conflict to look at fiction, poetry, costume & family life. From the architect of Zionism Theodor Herzl to modern Palestinian thinkers such as Edward Said, it explores opposite viewpoints & national loyalties. In works of the imagination it
Includes:: the writing of myriad & sometimes unexpected authors such as Mark Twain, Noel Coward, Mahatma Gandhi & Winston Churchill. Much more than another account of the conflict, this book gives voice to both Israeli & Palestinian writers as well as those from outside the region. It considers Palestine's long & much-mythologized history, its landscapes & cities & the way in which it has inspired generations of writers, artists & thinkers.