This is the final volume of Herman Wouk's two masterly historical novels about the early days of Israel. Wouk is a compelling storyteller of Israel's dangerous and exciting days from the end of the Six Day War through the battles of the Yom Kippur War, the Entebbe Rescue and the first Camp David agreements.
Wouk tells the story through a few compelling fictional characters who interact seamlessly with real characters such as Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan and Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat.
This is edge-of-seat adrenaline-packed authentic and exhaustively researched historical action written by one of the World's best storytellers. Of course Wouk writes from a Jewish perspective backed up by vital knowledge about Jewish life and values and the various ways the Jewish religion is practiced. Despite this he pulls no punches with detailed descriptions of the chaotic practice of politics in Israel, the arguments, the disasters and the triumphs.
The surprise attack at the start of the Yom Kippur War by several Arab countries caught Israel by surprise during one of it most revered religious holidays and shows how close Israel came to absolute defeat. In the end audacity and sheer military skill left Israeli tanks within striking distance of Damascus and 100,000 Egyptian troops surrounded and starving in the Sinai. These amazing achievements have so easily been forgotten.
This a front-row seat of history as Israel becomes the centre of the Cold War and the World gets nearly as close to a nuclear war as the Cuban missile crisis. It also forms the foundation of the US support for Israel.
The story ends in the early 1980's - so much has happened since then as Israel continues to live a fortress existence, now facing different kinds of terrorist enemies and looming nuclear capabilities in Iran. The saga continues.....
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