Yale Press Log

Israel's Independence and Churchill's Zionism

As Israel, and its millions of supporters world-wide, celebrate its 60th birthday, few realize the important role that Winston Churchill played in the establishment of the State of Israel and the shaping of the modern Middle East.

Michael Makovsky’s groundbreaking Churchill’s Promised Land, brings this and much more to light in his careful and nuanced examination of Churchill’s complex relationship with Zionism.

In exploring Churchill’s evolving and ultimately romantic interest in Zionism, Makovsky offers a fresh, more complete and revealing understanding of this great statesman’s worldview. 

Churchill’s Promised Land won the National Jewish Book Award for History (2007) and was a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature (2008).

Read an excerpt, or view the table of contents. Click here to listen to an interview with Michael Makovsky on the Yale Press Podcast.

Morris's 1948 is a critics' favorite

Under the spotlight of the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence, Benny Morris's recent book, 1948, is a praised as a shining example.

Last Sunday’s New York Times Book Review features David Margolick's review, saying: "Morris relates the story of his new book soberly and somberly, evenhandedly and exhaustively."

The May 5th issue of The New Yorker hit newsstands on Monday with a feature piece by David Remnick. This piece on Israeli history centers around Morris and the publication of 1948, calling it "a commanding, superbly documented, and fair-minded study of the events that, in the wake of the Holocaust, gave a sovereign home to one people and dispossessed another."

Last Monday, David Holahan reviewed the book for the Hartford Courant. 1948, he said, is "a richly detailed and thoroughly researched primer.... A compelling 'aha' book, 1948 brings order to complex, little-understood subjects." He went on to compliment Morris on his "vivid narrative prose and masterly analysis."

Canada's National Post began running excerpts from 1948 on May 5, and will run a total of 5 installments. Read the second and third installments.

Yale Press authors on nuclear war and black holes

Foreign Affairs, published by the Council of Foreign Relations, asked Lawrence Freedman to choose his five favorite books of the past year about military, science, and technology. He chose Foxbats over Dimona: The Soviets' Nuclear Gamble in the Six-Day War, by Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez as one of the year's best books. Read the entire list here.

This groundbreaking history shatters many assumptions about the Six-Day War of 1967. New research in Soviet archives and testimonies from participants in the Israeli/Egyptian conflict reveal the extent of the Kremlin’s involvement, plans for the use of nuclear weapons in the Mid-East, and willingness to precipitate a global crisis.

Click here to listen to an interview with Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez on the Yale Press Podcast.

And Fred R. Shapiro, editor of The Yale Book of Quotations, corrected the Times on the history of the term "black hole." Read his explanation on the Times Online.

Click here to listen to an interview with Fred Shapiro on the Yale Press Podcast.

Parsi and Kurlantzick shortlisted for Arthur Ross Book Award

The Council on Foreign Relations announced the shortlist for the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award. Among the 5 prestigious international affairs books chosen, two spots were given to Yale Press authors.

Joshua Kurlantzick was chosen for Charm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power is Transforming the World. The Council consider his book an "insightful assessment of Beijing’s new diplomacy that has altered the political landscape in Southeast Asia and far beyond, changing the dynamics of China’s relationships with other countries."

The Council chose Trita Parsi for Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States, calling his book "a unique and important dissection of the complicated triangular relations that continue to shape the future of the Middle East."

The Arthur Ross Book Award is a significant award for a book on international affairs. It was endowed by Arthur Ross in 2001 to honor non-fiction works, in English or translation, that merit special attention for bringing forth new information that changes our understanding of events or problems, developing analytical approaches that allow new and different insights into critical issues, or providing new ideas that help resolve foreign policy problems.

Parsi on Huffington Post: Breaking the US-Iran Stalemate

Writing on The Huffington Post, Trita Parsi, author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States and president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), discusses the upcoming NIAC conference, "Breaking the US-Iran Stalemate: Reassessing the Nuclear Strategy in the Wake of the Majles Elections." Parsi begins:

When it comes to Iran, President Bush has all but banged the drums of war. In fact, when faced with the question of Iran's nuclear file, it's been talk of sanctions or war, but nothing else -- even though sanctions have gotten us nowhere.

On April 8, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) will host foreign policy A-listers, Congressional members and staff, key academics and accredited media to discuss another option on Capitol Hill: a multinational enrichment facility inside Iran, coupled with direct and comprehensive talks with Tehran.

Read the entire article here. For more information on the conference, including a schedule and making reservations, click here.

Allawi and McCarthy: two experts discuss their expertise

Ali A. Allawi, author of The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace, spoke at Brown University last Wednesday as part of the Peter Green Lectures on the Modern Middle East. His talk at Brown was moved to a 675 seat lecture hall to accommodate demand. Read an article covering Allawi's lecture from the Providence Journal. The Occupation of Iraq is now available in paperback.

This is a comprehensive account of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, told for the first time by an Iraqi insider. Ali Allawi, former Iraqi Minister of Defense and Finance, writes from the perspective of both principal and observer, shedding new light on the story behind the invasion, the shambolic aftermath and attempts at stabilization, and why events have failed to unfold as planned.

Click here to listen to an interview with Ali A. Allawi on the Yale Press Podcast.

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On February 29, 2008, Yale Press author Tom McCarthy appeared on the Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC) to discuss his new book Auto Mania: Cars, Consumers, and the Environment. You can download the segment or listen with the embedded player below. For more information on the segment, or to hear the entire program, click here.

Spanning the automobile’s entire history, this book is the first to relate consumer behavior to the wider environmental impact of cars—from raw materials and manufacturing to use and disposal. It shows that America’s disappointing response to automobile-related environmental issues stems from the interplay of politics, economics, and desire.

Leading specialist lauds Foxbats over Dimona

Writing for the Middle East Journal, Mark N. Katz favorably reviewed Foxbats over Dimona: The Soviets' Nuclear Gamble in the Six-Day War by Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez. Professor Katz, an expert on Moscow's foreign policy toward the Middle East, was blown away by the book's compelling argument and unique viewpoint. Here's what he had to say:

I was highly skeptical about these bold claims when I began reading this book. “Moscow made us do it” seemed to be too neat an explanation for Israel’s actions in 1967. Long before reaching the book’s end, though, I became convinced that Ginor and Remez have gotten it right....

I must concur ... with Sir Lawrence Freedman’s judgment that Ginor and Remez have presented such a strong case for their argument that “the onus is now on others to show why they are wrong.”

Read more from his review of Foxbats over Dimona after the jump.

This groundbreaking history shatters many assumptions about the Six-Day War of 1967. New research in Soviet archives and testimonies from participants in the Israeli/Egyptian conflict reveal the extent of the Kremlin’s involvement, plans for the use of nuclear weapons in the Mid-East, and willingness to precipitate a global crisis.

Click here to listen to an interview with Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez on the Yale Press Podcast.

Yale Press Podcast, Episode 12

Episode 12 of the Yale Press Podcast is now available.
Download Episode 12

In Episode 12, Chris Gondek speaks with (1) Victoria Clark about Zionism and the American evangelical communtity and (2) Daniel J Solove about the permanent and global nature of the Internet is affecting people’s reputations.

Download it for free here, on iTunes, and everywhere else that podcasts can be found.

Comments are welcome.

In Episode 12, Chris Gondek speaks with (1) Victoria Clark about Zionism and the American evangelical communtity and (2) Daniel J Solove about the permanent and global nature of the Internet is affecting people’s reputations.

Download it for free here, on iTunes, and everywhere else that podcasts can be found.

Comments are welcome.

Allawi discusses future of Iraq on NPR's Fresh Air

As part of the series "Iraq: What Next for the U.S.?," Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air recently talked with Ali A. Allawi. He is author of The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace, which comes out in paperback on February 4, 2008. Their conversation about the future of Iraq can be heard here.

Involved for over thirty years in the politics of Iraq, Ali A. Allawi was a long-time opposition leader against the Baathist regime. In the post-Saddam years he has held important government positions and participated in crucial national decisions and events. In this book, the former Minister of Defense and Finance draws on his unique personal experience, extensive relationships with members of the main political groups and parties in Iraq, and deep understanding of the history and society of his country to answer the baffling questions that persist about its current crises. What really led the United States to invade Iraq, and why have events failed to unfold as planned?

The Occupation of Iraq examines what the United States did and didn’t know at the time of the invasion, the reasons for the confused and contradictory policies that were enacted, and the emergence of the Iraqi political class during the difficult transition process. The book tracks the growth of the insurgency and illuminates the complex relationships among Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds. Bringing the discussion forward to the reconfiguration of political forces in 2006, Allawi provides in these pages the clearest view to date of the modern history of Iraq and the invasion that changed its course in unpredicted ways.

You can also hear Allawi on the Yale Press Podcast by clicking here, or read the table of contents of his book here.

Yale Press books about unlikely neighbors and allies

In light of continued media coverage about the U.S.'s relationship with Iran, Trita Parsi's attention-grabbing Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States was reviewed by both Salon and Bloomberg News. Gary Kamiya of Salon calls it "an important new book," addressing a "fundamental misunderstanding of the country" of Iran. Celestine Bohlen of Bloomberg News admires the book for "tackling the complex question of Israel's role in what has become a triangular relationship" between Iran, the U.S., and Israel.

Read an excerpt, view the table of contents, or listen to an interview with the author on the Yale Press Podcast.

Slate and Seattle Times have recently praised In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell, released earlier this year in paperback.

This intriguing book examines the often surprising ways that crows and ravens and humans interact. Featuring more than 100 striking illustrations, the book recounts lively stories about crows and ravens throughout history and around the world, and the authors challenge us to reconsider our thinking not only about these compelling birds but also about ourselves.

Michael Makovsky named Sami Rohr Prize Finalist

Michael Makovsky, author of Churchill's Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft, has been named one of five finalists for this year's Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. The Jewish Book Council, who administers the award, considers Churchill's Promised Land to be "a book of exceptional literary merit that stimulates an interest in themes of Jewish concern." One of the finalists will receive the $100,000 prize next spring. For more information on the prize, click here.

This book is the first to explore fully the role that Zionism played in the political thought of Winston Churchill. Tracing the development of Churchill’s positions toward Zionism and the Jewish people throughout his long career, Michael Makovsky offers a fresh and balanced insight into one of the twentieth century’s greatest figures.

Michael Makovsky has a Ph.D. in diplomatic history from Harvard and is foreign policy director of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. He lives in Washington.

Read an excerpt. View the table of contents. Listen to an interview with Michael Makovsky on the Yale Press Podcast.

Amitai Etzioni on The Huffington Post

Amitai Etzioni, author of Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy, was a recent guest blogger for The Huffington Post. The article, called "An Honesty Test for Politicians," begins:

In the course of this campaign season many questions have been raised about the character of the various candidates for public office. We are sure to hear much more about their personal integrity and the veracity of specific claims they make. The test I recommend is simple: It asks whether a person who is seeking to lead us has the courage to come clean with the American people and tell one and all that we must take a bitter medicine--namely, that we must impose a hefty tax on oil. He or she can soften the blow by listing all the good things that would follow from such a tax, but would have to add that we also must give up on our romance with the automobile.

Continue reading "An Honesty Test for Politicians."

Few would argue against the need for change in American foreign policy, but what approach would be best? Amitai Etzioni here proposes a foreign policy that is both pragmatic and morally sound—one in which basic security is the first priority. His ideas ring with the sound of reason, and his book should be required reading for every leader, policy maker and voter in America.

Amitai Etzioni is a Professor of International Relations at the George Washington University. Among his books are From Empire to Community, Political Unification Revisited, Winning Without War, and The Common Good. He served as a Senior Aid to the White House and as President of the American Sociological Association. He taught at Columbia, Harvard, and Berkeley. He was listed as one of the top 100 American intellectuals in Richard Posner’s book Public Intellectuals.

Trita Parsi's interview with Harry Kreisler of "Conversations with History"

Many thanks to Harry Kreisler, executive producer and moderator of "Conversations with History." Produced at the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, these interviews were concieved by Kreisler as a way to "...capture and preserve through conversation and technology the intellectual ferment of our times..." 

Trita Parsi, author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, was Kreisler's most recent guest. You can also listen to a Yale Press Podcast with the author.

From YouTube:
"Iran, Israel, and the United States"
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Trita Parsi, President of the National Iranian American Council, for a discussion of the struggle for power in the Middle East. Drawing on the perspective of the Realist School of International Relations Theory, he focuses on the region's dominant powers--Israel and Iran--and examines the evolution of their relations with each other and with the United States, the world's only superpower.

Top picks, part 1: Yale books make Amazon.com's Top 100

If you're looking for the best books of the year or the perfect gifts for the season, Amazon.com, the New York Times, the Washington Post and others have put together some year-end book lists. Yale University Press books have ranked highly on many of those lists, from arts to science to current events. Here is just a sample of some titles that editors and websites have picked.

Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games by Tennent H. Bagley made the Amazon.com Editors' Picks: Top 100 Books, coming in at number 76. Also, YUP titles made strong showings in a number of the editors' category-based Top 10 lists.

• In the Arts and Photography category, the #1 book of the year is The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson, edited by Brooke Kamin Rapaport. In addition, Balenciaga and His Legacy by Myra Walker was #9.
• Janet Malcolm's Two Lives ranked #4 in the Gay and Lesbian category, as well as #5 in Biography.
• In the Current Events category, The Occupation of Iraq by Ali A. Allawi was listed as #9.
• And in the Science category, The Last Human by G. J. Sawyer and Viktor Deak ranked as #8.

See the rest of the Amazon.com Editors' Picks.

Also, the Yale Holiday Sale has been extended. Free shipping is available for all web orders through December 31, 2007, and select titles are 50% off. And don't forget to check out our Holiday Selections.

Bloggers pick up Parsi's article for The Nation

Trita Parsi, author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, wrote an article for the November 19 issue of The Nation. Parsi's article, "The Iranian Challenge," reassesses American assumptions about Iran, and it has caught the attention of bloggers all across the web, including AlterNet, Iran Coverage, Mahler's Prodigal Son, Dictynna's Net, and Still Hangin' on a Cross & Snarking from Golgotha.

Trita Parsi (Yale Press Podcast) is president, National Iranian American Council, and adjunct professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS.

Here's Parsi's article, "The Iranian Challenge," that everyone's reading and sharing:

Iran will be the top foreign policy challenge for the United States in the coming years. The Bush Administration's policy (insistence on zero enrichment of uranium, regime change and isolation of Iran) and the policy of the radicals around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (unlimited civilian nuclear capability, selective inspections and replacing the United States as the region's dominant power) have set the two countries on a collision course. Yet the mere retirement of George W. Bush's neocons or Ahmadinejad's radicals may not be sufficient to avoid the disaster of war.

YUP authors across America

From San Francisco to Washington D.C., Yale University Press authors are speaking across the country.

According to the Washington Post Literary Calendar, Daniel J. Solove will appear tonight at 6:30 P.M. at the Borders Books in downtown Washington D.C. He's going to discuss and sign copies of his new book, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet. For more information, call 202-466-4999, or click here.

Daniel J. Solove is associate professor, George Washington University Law School, and an internationally known expert in privacy law. He is frequently interviewed and featured in media broadcasts and articles, and he is the author of The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age. He lives in Washington, D.C., and blogs at the popular law blog http://www.concurringopinions.com.

Also in Washington D.C., Politics and Prose will host Janet Malcolm, author of Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice tomorrow at 7 P.M. For more information on this free event, click here.

Janet Malcolm is the author of The Journalist and the Murderer, The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, and Reading Chekhov, among other books. She writes for The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books and lives in New York City.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Trita Parsi, author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, will be speaking to the World Affairs Council of Northern California. Tomorrow at 6 P.M., he will discuss the relations between Israel, Iran, and the United States. Registering online in advance is recommended to assure seating. For more information, or to register online, click here.

Later this week, Parsi will be the keynote speaker at the annual dinner for the North Suburban Peace Initiative in Evanston, IL. The dinner will be on Saturday, November 10th, from 6 to 9 P.M. Reservations can be made today online. For more information, click here.

Trita Parsi is president, National Iranian American Council, and adjunct professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS. He writes frequently about the Middle East and has appeared on BBC World News, PBS News Hour, CNN, and other news programs. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Political leaders are political readers, too

In the past month, important political figures have been seen with books published by Yale University Press: Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World by Joshua Kurlantzick and Churchill's Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft by Michael Makovsky.

On September 6, 2007, President Bush met with Kevin Rudd, the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament. The Sydney Morning Herald's international editor Peter Hartcher reported that Rudd "handed the leader of the free world two books." One of these books was Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World by Joshua Kurlantzick.

Read the entire article.

Through new foreign policy tactics that rely on charm instead of intimidation, China is developing stronger alliances with many nations around the globe. Charm Offensive is the first to examine the significance of this new diplomacy focused on soft power and looks at what Beijing’s global ambitions may mean for the U.S. and the world.

Read an excerpt, or view the table of contents.

On September 23rd, 2007, David Cracknell of the The Sunday Times reported that England's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a copy on hand of Churchill's Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft by Michael Makovsky.

Brown is a voracious reader.... On the table next to his desk are Churchill’s Promised Land, Thatcher’s Statecraft and a collection of Nelson Man-dela’s speeches: hard going for most, staple matter for Gordon. It will all go into the big speech to conference tomorrow.

Read the entire article.

This book, Churchill's Promised Land, is the first to explore fully the role that Zionism played in the political thought of Winston Churchill. Tracing the development of Churchill’s positions toward Zionism and the Jewish people throughout his long career, Michael Makovsky offers a fresh and balanced insight into one of the twentieth century’s greatest figures.

Read an excerpt, or view the table of contents.

Both of these books are part of the New Republic Book series, published by Yale University Press. In conjunction with The New Republic magazine, Yale University Press publishes books and pamphlets on a range of perspectives on American and international politics as well as the world of arts, letters, and culture.

People are talking about Parsi's Treacherous Alliance

Rolling Stone interviewed Trita Parsi, author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, for a recent article. The article reports that Vice President Dick Cheney is "angling behind the scenes for yet another unilateral military action, this time aimed at toppling the clerical regime in Iran." Parsi, who is also the president of the Nationarl Iranian American Council, says that "the United States is pursuing policies that make it impossible to succeed." The article was also picked up by Michael Moore's website, MichaelMoore.com. To read the entire article, click here.

Powell's Books featured a review of Treacherous Alliance for the Review-a-Day section of their website. The review, originally printed in the New York Review of Books, can be found here.

Read an excerpt.

View the table of contents.

Trita Parsi's Treacherous Alliance on the radio and in print

Trita Parsi, author of recently-released Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, was a guest on The Diane Rehm Show to talk about his new book.

Listen to the show, or downloand this segment using Real Audio or Windows Media Player.

Parsi's Treacherous Alliance was also reviewed by Peter W. Galbraith for the October 11 issue of The New York Review of Books. Galbraith calls Parsi's book a "wonderfully informative account of the triangular relationship among the US, Iran, and Israel."

Read the entire review.

In today’s world of conflict and threatened nuclear violence, few books, if any, could be more important than this one. Middle East expert Trita Parsi untangles the complex and often duplicitous relations among Israel, Iran, and the United States from 1948 to the present and spells out how American policies can avert catastrophe and lead the region toward peace.

Trita Parsi is president, National Iranian American Council, and adjunct professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS. He writes frequently about the Middle East and has appeared on BBC World News, PBS News Hour, CNN, and other news programs. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Read an excerpt.

View the table of contents.

Yale Press Podcast, Episode 9

Episode 9 of the Yale Press Podcast is now available.

In Episode 9, Chris Gondek speaks with (1) Trita Parsi about about his behind-the scenes revelations about events in the Middle East and the geopolitical competition between Israel, Iran, and the United Staes, and with (2) James Prosek, author, watercolorist, and musician about the Yale Anglers' Journal tenth anniversiary as well as its rise as one of world's premier literary journals devoted to the sport.

Download it for free here, on iTunes, and everywhere else that podcasts can be found.

Comments are welcome.

Show Notes for Episode 9 of the Yale Press Podcast

Posted by Chris Gondek, Producer/Host of the Yale Press Podcast.

I can't deny that my heartbeat quickened when I heard the theme music to the show again. I was putting together the main show, and when I put in the opening theme and started the fade, I felt very happy. Two months is far too long between shows. I go through withdrawl.

You'd be hard pressed to find a book that is as timely as Trita Parsi's Treacherous Alliance, a book that everyone who wants a sense of what is really going on between Israel and Iran should pick up and read. Then, once the adrenaline has subsided, the essays in Tight Lines are music to the ear of any angler. I know that I'll be picking up a copy to send to a college roommate of mine who is a devoted fly fisherman. When you look at all he has accomplished, James Prosek could very well be the coolest angler on the planet.

Russia's Defense Ministry confirms Soviet sorties over Dimona in 1967

Last Friday the Jerusalem Post published an article citing a recent statement made by chief spokesman of Russia's Air Force, Colonel Aleksandr Drobyshevsky, who publicly acknowledged a major historical detail related to the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (Six Days' War).

The detail refers to reconnaissance flights over Israel, specifically one flight by Colonel Aleksandr Bezhevets. The flights over the Israeli compound of Dimona confirms the position two Yale University Press authors present in their recently released book, Foxbats Over Dimona.

In the Jerusalem Post article, co-authors Gideon Remez and Isabella Ginor described this "extraordinary disclosure" as "official confirmation of the book's exhibit A and the source of its title." Details here.

Monday's NY Sun article expanded on this recent development: "...it would be instructive to look at the case made by two journalists-turned-historians, Ms. Ginor and Mr. Remez, who have recently posited one of the most fascinating explanations yet offered on the origins of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war that changed much of modern history.

"According to their new book, "Foxbats Over Dimona" ( Yale University Press), the Six-Day War started because the Soviet Union was concerned about Israel's nascent nuclear program, having initially learned about it from an Israeli Communist Party leader, Moshe Sneh, who might have worked in the service of Mother Russia, or Zionism, or both.

"The 'Foxbats' in the title refer to the then-experimental MiGÂ-25 reconnaissance bombers that, according to the authors' reporting, flew over the secret Israeli compound in Dimona in May 1967, primarily to map out plans for the destruction of Israel's emerging nuclear facility there, which the Soviets planned to demolish under the fog of a war between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors, a war to be launched at Soviet instigation.

"Confirmation of the authors' contention was first reported in the Jerusalem Post last week, when the chief spokesman for Russia's Air Force, Colonel Aleksandr Drobyshevsky, wrote what sounds a lot like a Russian version of 'The Right Stuff' in official publications. Describing the extraordinary abilities of Russian test pilots, Mr. Drobyshevsky allowed that one decorated hero, Colonel Aleksandr Bezhevets, performed 'unique reconnaissance flights over the territory of Israel in a MiGÂ-25RB aircraft' in 1967."
To read the entire article, click here.

On the heels of this breaking news, Foreign Affairs just released their review of Foxbats Over Dimona, calling the book, "a book that is truly revisionist, challenging what we thought we knew about the origins and conduct of the Six-Day War....The exact role played by the Soviet Union has always been murky. The authors work their way through the murk, meticulously using every snippet of relevant information....By its nature, this is an impossible case to prove, but Ginor and Remez have succeeded to the point where the onus is now on others to show why they are wrong."
Read the full Foreign Affairs review.

From Yale University Press:
Read an excerpt of Foxbats Over Dimona
Browse the table of contents
Listen to the authors' podcast

Yale Press Podcast, Episode 8

Episode 8 of the Yale Press Podcast is now available.

In Episode 8, Chris Gondek speaks with (1) Michael Makovsky about Winston Churchill’s views on Zionism, (2) Tennant Bagley about the controversy surrounding a KGB defector in the early 1960s, and (3) Emily Cockayne about urban nuisances people suffered in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries.

Download it for free here, on iTunes, and everywhere else that podcasts can be found.

Comments are welcome.

Remembering the Six-Day War: 40 years later

June 5, 1967 marks the 40th anniversary of the Six Year War, the start of an armed conflict between Israel and the Arab states, Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

Fearing an imminent invasion, Israel launched a preemptive air attack on Egypt in June 1967 and it achieved such staggering devastation that in just six days the war was won and the future of the Middle East was forever changed. But have our assumptions about the genesis of the Six-Day War been misguided? What was the involvement of the Soviet Union? Were the Israelis planning to use nuclear weapons? Were the Soviets?

Foxbats Over Dimona recently released by Yale University Press, is “A fascinating, plausible, and hitherto untold tale,” says Dov S. Zakheim, former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense.

This book provides an account that is startlingly different from all previous histories of the Six-Day War. Award-winning Israeli journalists Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez investigate newly available documents and testimonies from the former Soviet Union, cross-check them extensively against Israeli and Western sources, and arrive at fresh and frightening conclusions. Filled with astonishing new information about this crucial week in history, the book paints a disturbing picture of Cold War aggression, deception, and calculated willingness to precipitate a global crisis.

Key coverage continues -- media outlets ring in on The Occupation of Iraq

With the recent release of The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace, Ali Allawi's new publication is getting quite a bit of media attention. In addition to the recent newspaper coverage, Allawi has appeared on venues such as CSPAN's Book TV and The Charlie Rose Show, as well as speaking at the National Press Club. His publicity tour continues throughout this week with a visit with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight at 11 pm. Click here for a listing of current and upcoming author appearances and engagements.

The Associated Press says of Allawi: "The U.S.- and British-educated engineer and financier is the first senior Iraqi official to look back at book length on his country's four-year ordeal. It's an unsparing look at failures both American and Iraqi, an account in which the word 'ignorance' crops up repeatedly. . ."
For full text, click here.

Moises Naim, editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine, says, "While many books have been written about Iraq's tragedy, Ali Allawi's story offers a unique insider's perspective of the global forces, local passions and diverse personalities that converged to create a situation that will haunt us for decades. An indispensable source of ideas about what happened - and what is likely to happen - in Iraq."

A Washington Post review concludes, "Thankfully, Allawi's book is not simply a polemic. It is a thorough account of the effort to govern and reconstruct Iraq as told by an Iraqi who was deeply involved in the process. . . .The Occupation of Iraq is packed with fascinating details for those who have closely followed America's misadventure in Iraq, and it's a valuable primer for those who haven't. His insider account of the past four years - and his views of what the United States should have done differently - adds a valuable new voice to the ongoing debate about Iraq."
For full text, click here.