Summing Up

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Shamir's life story is full of high drama. Born in Poland in 1915, he emigrated to Palestine at age 20 and married his courier in the Zionist underground, Shulamit Levy. Deported by the British in 1946 to Eritrea, he left behind his wife and one-year-old son, whom he did not see again until the birth of Israel in 1948, after he made a dangerous escape from prison. In this outspoken autobiography, Israel's former prime minister defends his Likud Party's hard-line policies, recalls his exploits as a Mossad intelligence agent and as foreign minister, gives an insider's account of the Israeli air force's annihilation of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 and aims withering barbs at Jimmy Carter, Shimon Peres, Meir Kahane and others. Shamir, who was defeated in the 1992 elections, castigates the Labor government for its pact with the PLO, calling it a reckless mistake that imperils Israel's security. Photos. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Like many other Israelis, the author was born in the early part of this century in a small village in Poland. As a young man, he became a member of the Zionist youth movement, which did much to forge his strong ideological commitment even before he emigrated at age 20 to Palestine, then a British mandate, in 1935. Shamir became an active participant in the violence of the time, serving as a member of the infamous Stern Gang, for which he was arrested and briefly exiled. Here he reviews his activities in the newly formed government of Israel, culminating with his service to the nation as its foreign minister and then prime minister. A major contribution of this book is the account of the much-publicized rancor between Shamir and American President George Bush, which brought relations between the two countries to a low point. Absolutely essential for any collection dealing with either Israel or Middle Eastern affairs.-Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba Coll., Salisbury, N.C

Gilbert Taylor

Before the author plunged into Israel's boisterous politics at the late age of 58, and later become the hard-line (or steadfast, depending on one's outlook) prime minister, he led a startling, painful, though not untypical life of a Polish-born Jew, the background of so many fighters in the Zionist movement. His family perished at Treblinka, but before the horror, he had emigrated to Palestine in 1935 and spent the next dozen years in the underground, responsible, in his words, "for planning and executing reprisals." He describes orders resulting in at least five killings, "part of the payment demanded from us for national survival, and I recall them as such, without apology or regret." Such patriotic defiance conveys the flavor of the man, who was equally straightforward during the years (1977-92) of his Likud bloc's governance of Israel. He is unstinting in his admiration for mentor Menachem Begin; however, he says of Shimon Peres, his socialist rival, "it steadily became harder to find any saving grace in him"; and former President Bush, he insinuates, was anti-Semitic--for denying Shamir's 1991 request for housing loan guarantees. So this memoir, unpolished and blunt, records a life of simple but adamant beliefs derived from complex, wrenching experiences. Because he rejected a land-for-peace settlement with the Arabs and because his epilogue swells with gloomy predictions about recent concessions to the PLO, Shamir's account ought to pull in wide interest--from supporters, detractors, and the apolitical--all of whom might be attracted by the Israeli state's short, dramatic history.

From Barnes & Noble

In his own words, the former Prime Minister of Israel and one of the most important figures in world politics relates the story of his extraordinary life & controversial years as Israel's leader, as well as his views on present-day Israel. B&W photos.