Ben-Gurion

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

David Ben-Gurion coolly reckoned human suffering in his calculus of political thought. The Holocaust, in his speeches, became one more object lesson for the Zionist future, a sign that the Jewish people would gain statehood. The fervent Polish Jew who from boyhood on believed he was destined to fulfill a mission endured 18-hour work days and terrible loneliness. He prized will power as the supreme human quality and downplayed emotion. An absent father, a husband who cheated on his wife, Israel's first prime minister ultimately felt let down by his family and his party. In the end he became his own strongest support. This engrossing, 1024-page biography by a Tel Aviv University scholar (the first installment in a multivolume life) is a remarkable achievement. Teveth (Moshe Dayan uncovers the personal story that intertwined with the creation of Israel. There is much behind-the-scenes drama, such as Ben-Gurion's vehement feud with Chaim Weizmann. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (June 8)

Library Journal

David Ben-Gurion was an outstanding figure in modern history, one of the founders and political leaders of the state of Israel. Although this is not a complete biography, it covers a period that holds the substance of the man. The author, an Israeli journalist and historian, brings to bear an enormous amount of research in the archives of Israel and in his subject's memoirs and diaries, and tells the story in a manner as intense and dramatic as was Ben-Gurion's life. Offering far more than the lionizing popular versions of Ben-Gurion's life that have appeared, this supplements Barnett Litvinoff's standard Ben Gurion of Israel (Praeger, 1954), as well as more recent books. Teveth's work is now the starting point for the study of Ben-Gurion's life and impact. Sanford R. Silverburg, Political Science Dept., Catawba Coll., Salisbury, N.C.