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Six Days of War

June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East

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Six Days of War

By: Michael B. Oren
Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
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About this listen

 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 20th Century Israel & Palestine Middle East Military Modern Political Science Politics & Government War Royalty Iran Africa

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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)
All stars
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Would you listen to Six Days of War again? Why?

Yes because there is so much information to absorb.

Any additional comments?

Having known the basic events of this war, this book brilliantly explains the background, reasoning and actions of all parties involved. Understanding the events of the 6 day war has allowed me to make a little sense of the situation since the war.

Who Dares, Wins.

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So much intrigue and courage displayed by the architects and leaders of this conflict and the entrenched diverse opinions of the parties involved. a great listen.

Informative and extensively researched

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Six Days of War has been advertised as a non-biased book about the subject. Of course it is biased. The author, Michael Oren, is an Israeli ex-ambassador. He does however go to great length in order to present an objective picture drawing from numerous sources, Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian, Soviet, American and other sources. Oren does a good job of masterfully switching between military tactics details and battle scenes described by eyewitnesses on both sides and the labirynths of diplomatical games of the superpowers. He paints vivid portraits of the great leaders of the time like Dayan, Eshkol, Naser, Amer and others. However, despite thousands of details and thorough military and political analysis, The Six Days of War convinced me even more of what I knew before reading the book: the outcome of that war, as the existence of the state of Israel itself is a miracle.

A thourough analysis drawing on numerous sourcrs

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Written by an Israeli this is surprisingly even in it’s telling.
I used Wikipedia as a guide, useful in historical events.
My take? Poor leadership often results in war, Egypt and Syria executed some of their officers shortly afterwards.

Balance

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The book is as detailed and thorough as one could hope for. It builds and builds, creeping towards the war you know is going to break out. Oren wonderfully breaks down the conversations, contexts, and collective strain that preceded the conflict. By the time the first shots are fired you have come to know the protagonists well, and can feel the exhaustion they must have felt after months of build-up and stress. The war itself is told well, highlighting the challenges of individual battles in enough detail to give you a sense of their danger and difficulty, but not too much as to overwhelm you with minute orders and commands.



Oren takes on the task of this assignment with as much neutrality and objectivity as is probably possible, but you end up getting a better feel for the Israeli side. This is not to say he takes a pro-Israel stance, just that the detail of the leadership decisions of the Israeli leadership is more than the other countries. He does an excellent job addressing the interests of each country, including the Russians and USA along with the entire Middle-East contingent, so this is not really a fault of the book, just an observation on my part. The other problem with the book, and I suspect this is related to the audio format, is that you really could benefit from a map. Yes, it is easy enough to envisage where Egypt and Israel sit on a map, but when he starts discussing different towns and passes, it would have been nice to have a map.



Overall, a wonderfully written and researched book that brings to light the hectic pace of negotiations and international diplomacy that tends to get overlooked when discussing this war.

Fascinating listen, just bring a map

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It gives you the story and the detail. Would listen again. Absolutely fantastic performanced storyline

Great book

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I liked it. I found it clear and accessible with a good flow, with new insights

Clear, flowing and insightful

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The reading was very good and the book contains alot of information, at times hard to follow but overall flows well.

informative and in depth

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A good audio book on the Six Day War, an unusually frank look at the War from both sides of the conflict.

The Six Day War

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The book really goes beyond the surface, showing how the Cold War contributed to the 6 Day War, something I had not really considered. It is largely focussed on the politics and lead up, with a lot of exploration of both the Arab and Israeli political goings on, with plenty of quotes from many of the players, both big and small. An honest account, which doesn’t pull any punches when discussing the leadership of both the Israelis and the Arabs. I’d definitely recommend this.

A deep and revealing read

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