Yitzhak Rabin

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10Beginning with a detailed and moving account of Rabin's leadership in the struggle against British attempts to keep Jews from emigrating to pre-Israel Palestine during the 1940s, this admiring, well-written biography follows the recently assassinated prime minister from military commander to diplomat and politician. Kort draws heavily from The Rabin Memoirs (Little, Brown, 1979), as he recounts the statesman's long and distinguished public career as well as highlights of his private life. The author is especially effective in using Rabin's life to describe the momentous events in Israel's 48-year history as an autonomous nation. Kort also describes Rabin's continuous struggle with Shimon Peres for the leadership of Israel's Labor Party and how the two leaders eventually came to terms when they decided that the emerging peace agreement with the PLO was more important than their power struggle. Average-quality, black-and-white photos are scattered throughout this sensitively presented and compelling biography.Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego