Palestine 1936

The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict

By: Oren Kessler

Narrated by: Shawn K. Jain

In spring 1936, the Holy Land erupted in a rebellion that targeted both the local Jewish community and the British Mandate authorities. The Great Arab Revolt would last three years, cost thousands of lives, and cast the trajectory for the Middle East conflict. The revolt was the crucible in which Palestinian identity coalesced, uniting all in a single struggle for independence. Yet the rebellion would ultimately turn on itself. British forces' aggressive counterinsurgency took care of the rest, finally quashing the uprising on the eve of World War II.

To the Jews, the insurgency would leave a very different legacy. It was then that Zionist leaders began to abandon illusions over Arab acquiescence, to face the prospect that fulfilling their dream of sovereignty might mean forever clinging to the sword. The revolt saw thousands of Jews trained and armed by Britain. This is the story of two national movements and the first sustained confrontation between them. The rebellion was Arab, but the Zionist counter-rebellion—the Jews' transformation—is a vital element in how Palestine became Israel. Today, the revolt's legacy endures.

Palestine 1936 is the origin story of the world's most intractable conflict, but it is also more than that. It reveals world-changing events through extraordinary individuals on all sides.

©2023 Oren Kessler (P)2024 Tantor

Interesting but Flawed

Well researched and well presented. As the author observes he is a journalist rather than a historian. He avoids putting us in the room or on the street but he does a good job of setting the stage. Sadly, he offers a persistent Zionist gaze and as others have observed appears to use almost exclusively non-Arab sources. Arab victims of the war are often presented in statistics and cold honest description but Jewish victims of war are presented warmly, more tragically, and by name - leaving few doubts about the author's sympathies.

Great background to today’s Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Michael Oren’s 1936 takes us to the Arab Revolt of 1936 in British Mandate Palestine to lay the background of the origins of the founding of Israel. Through several personalities of the era, he tells the story of the Arab revolt and how the Palestinians lost the opportunity to get a state of their own alongside the Jewish state.
Interesting to get a detailed account of those days in Palestine before WWII and to meet several Palestinians and Arabs that are no longer well known today.

there is contant striff

this describes the constant battles that have been going on in palestine since the 30's. there is constant killing by all involved and constant fighting. there does.ot seem to be a road to peace.

Good content, abysmal reader

There was a lot of good information in this book. It was well written and informative about a period and place about which I knew next to nothing. Unfortunately, the reader didn't seem to understand the words he was reading and read every sentence with the exact same cadence, making it both monotonous and hard to parse.

Connects past and present.

For greater depth into today's headlines. Recommend this audio book. If you will only read or listen to one publication of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, choose this one.