Six Days of War

June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East

By: Michael B. Oren

Narrated by: Robert Whitfield

In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days of intense Arab-Israeli fighting in the summer of 1967.

Michael B. Oren spotlights all the participants: Arab, Israeli, Soviet, and American, as well as all the world leaders involved in this earth-shaking clash that transformed the world.

©2002 Michael B. Oren (P)2003 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Oren is not only a lucid, compelling writer, but reader Robert Whitfield is a master at narrative drive through intonation alone. The listener cannot put this book down. A triumph." (AudioFile)

Great writing; TERRIBLE narration

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I'm fine with the fact that the narrator doesn't have a Hebrew accent. If he wants to pronounce leh-VEE esh-KOHL as LEH-vee ESH-kohl, that's fine. But LEE-vie (like the jeans)?? Really?? And Nes ZI-uh-na (with a zee sound) instead of Nes Tzi-O-na? The HA [like hat]-guh-nuh- instead of the hah [like hot]-gan-NAH? Drove me crazy throughout the book, and really detracted from my enjoyment of what was otherwise a terrific book.

Outstanding book

Important book by the author who is now an ambassador to the United Nations.

I would like to comment on the narrator. He reads crisply and does a fine job, with one glaring exception. He pronounces many people's names incorrectly. There are so many wrong pronunciations that it gets to be a bit humorous (if you don't laugh, you might give up on this fine book in frustration). I don't understand why he didn't get a script that gave the correct way to say non-English names. Still, that would not keep me from renting this great book.

Shaping of the Middle

Good back ground of what happened and why things are the way they are in the middle east. Lot of lessons to be learned here.

Iseral is hated enemy but even if your surrounded if you stayed prepared and alert you control your own fate

Detailed account, well-written

Oren provides a detailed and informative account of the Six Days War. Although I consider myself well-informed, this war happened when I was very young. Since the war is one of the keys to understanding the Middle East challenges, I dove in. At times, it seemed too detailed and failed to give the reader sufficient overall context. However, I am sure someone more familiar with the situation would appreciate the detail. Overall, I enjoyed the audio book, and I feel much more competent when it comes to discussions about the Middle East.

As for the war, I was amazed at the extent of miscommunication and outright military incompetency. Israel had the better approach and that obviously showed in the outcome, but even Israel had its major blunders. The Arab nations, on the other hand, were so intent on deceiving themselves and their people that their loss was foreordained.

I would definitely suggest this audio book to the person who wants much more than just a summary of this war.

Great history

Dr. Oren's book is comprehensive, readable, entertaining and scholarly. It provides an excellent overview of the events of the war as well as of the motivations on both sides of the conflict. It achieves the nearly impossible task of balance, not just in terms of its viewpoints but also in terms of negotiating the macro-political and military events with the micro events that affected ordinary people on the ground.