Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn

Probably the best one volume history of Israel. On the plus side, the writing is generally clear and politics-free. The bits of poetry are welcome. On the negative side, the outlook is a little to the left of center but not obnoxiously so.

Concise but not short; the prose reads a bit like a textbook. A good introductory survey of internal Israeli and Zionist politics especially, but know that it is decidedly pro-Israel and pro-Zionist, frequently giving apologetic defenses of any critiques of the state of Israel and often openly dismissive of “the Arabs.”