Author: Lihi Ben Shitrit
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3111435326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Following the horrific attack on October 7, support for a devastating military retaliation and resolution has taken center stage. Nevertheless, within Israel, numerous critical voices cast doubt on the sustainability of such approaches. They champion the principles of morality, legality, and common sense as the true keys to a lasting solution. This book focuses on these voices which are critical of Israeli government policies. They are deeply grieving and affected by the October 7 attack, while also able to hold both Palestinian and Israeli pain and aspirations not as mutually exclusive, but as an impetus for creating a better and more equitable future for all who inhabit the land. It chronicles the reactions of intellectuals and scholars to unfolding events. All the pieces in this volume were written within a few days to a few months of October 7 and comprise an archive of a particular discourse taking shape in Israel at this historical juncture. The book is dedicated to the memory of Vivian Silver, who devoted her life to waging peace through valiant activism, and was murdered in her home on October 7. The editor’s royalties will go to support an annual lecture in her memory on the themes of peace and democracy. With contributions by Shaul Arieli, Eva Illouz, Idan Landau, Yaniv Ronen, Yofi Tirosh, Assaf David, Ameer Fakhoury, Ghadir Hani, Eran Tzidkiyahu, Orit Kamir, Orly Noy, Noam Shuster-Eliassi, Jessica Ausinheiler, Meirav Jones, Tal Correm, Anwar Mhajne, David Kretzmer, Omer Bartov, Rawia Aburabia, Hannah Safran, Tanya Zion-Waldoks, Galit Cohen-Kedem, Avi Shilon, Hagar Kotef, Merav Amir, Ali Al-Awar, and Nicholas Kristof.
The Gates of Gaza: Critical Voices from Israel on October 7 and the War with Hamas
Author: Lihi Ben Shitrit
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3111435326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Following the horrific attack on October 7, support for a devastating military retaliation and resolution has taken center stage. Nevertheless, within Israel, numerous critical voices cast doubt on the sustainability of such approaches. They champion the principles of morality, legality, and common sense as the true keys to a lasting solution. This book focuses on these voices which are critical of Israeli government policies. They are deeply grieving and affected by the October 7 attack, while also able to hold both Palestinian and Israeli pain and aspirations not as mutually exclusive, but as an impetus for creating a better and more equitable future for all who inhabit the land. It chronicles the reactions of intellectuals and scholars to unfolding events. All the pieces in this volume were written within a few days to a few months of October 7 and comprise an archive of a particular discourse taking shape in Israel at this historical juncture. The book is dedicated to the memory of Vivian Silver, who devoted her life to waging peace through valiant activism, and was murdered in her home on October 7. The editor’s royalties will go to support an annual lecture in her memory on the themes of peace and democracy. With contributions by Shaul Arieli, Eva Illouz, Idan Landau, Yaniv Ronen, Yofi Tirosh, Assaf David, Ameer Fakhoury, Ghadir Hani, Eran Tzidkiyahu, Orit Kamir, Orly Noy, Noam Shuster-Eliassi, Jessica Ausinheiler, Meirav Jones, Tal Correm, Anwar Mhajne, David Kretzmer, Omer Bartov, Rawia Aburabia, Hannah Safran, Tanya Zion-Waldoks, Galit Cohen-Kedem, Avi Shilon, Hagar Kotef, Merav Amir, Ali Al-Awar, and Nicholas Kristof.
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3111435326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Following the horrific attack on October 7, support for a devastating military retaliation and resolution has taken center stage. Nevertheless, within Israel, numerous critical voices cast doubt on the sustainability of such approaches. They champion the principles of morality, legality, and common sense as the true keys to a lasting solution. This book focuses on these voices which are critical of Israeli government policies. They are deeply grieving and affected by the October 7 attack, while also able to hold both Palestinian and Israeli pain and aspirations not as mutually exclusive, but as an impetus for creating a better and more equitable future for all who inhabit the land. It chronicles the reactions of intellectuals and scholars to unfolding events. All the pieces in this volume were written within a few days to a few months of October 7 and comprise an archive of a particular discourse taking shape in Israel at this historical juncture. The book is dedicated to the memory of Vivian Silver, who devoted her life to waging peace through valiant activism, and was murdered in her home on October 7. The editor’s royalties will go to support an annual lecture in her memory on the themes of peace and democracy. With contributions by Shaul Arieli, Eva Illouz, Idan Landau, Yaniv Ronen, Yofi Tirosh, Assaf David, Ameer Fakhoury, Ghadir Hani, Eran Tzidkiyahu, Orit Kamir, Orly Noy, Noam Shuster-Eliassi, Jessica Ausinheiler, Meirav Jones, Tal Correm, Anwar Mhajne, David Kretzmer, Omer Bartov, Rawia Aburabia, Hannah Safran, Tanya Zion-Waldoks, Galit Cohen-Kedem, Avi Shilon, Hagar Kotef, Merav Amir, Ali Al-Awar, and Nicholas Kristof.
The Gates of Gaza: Critical Voices from Israel on October 7 and the War with Hamas
Author: Lihi Ben Shitrit
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3111435040
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
Following the horrific attack on October 7, support for a devastating military retaliation and resolution has taken center stage. Nevertheless, within Israel, numerous critical voices cast doubt on the sustainability of such approaches. They champion the principles of morality, legality, and common sense as the true keys to a lasting solution. This book focuses on these voices which are critical of Israeli government policies. They are deeply grieving and affected by the October 7 attack, while also able to hold both Palestinian and Israeli pain and aspirations not as mutually exclusive, but as an impetus for creating a better and more equitable future for all who inhabit the land. It chronicles the reactions of intellectuals and scholars to unfolding events. All the pieces in this volume were written within a few days to a few months of October 7 and comprise an archive of a particular discourse taking shape in Israel at this historical juncture. The book is dedicated to the memory of Vivian Silver, who devoted her life to waging peace through valiant activism, and was murdered in her home on October 7. The editor’s royalties will go to support an annual lecture in her memory on the themes of peace and democracy. With contributions by Shaul Arieli, Eva Illouz, Idan Landau, Yaniv Ronen, Yofi Tirosh, Assaf David, Ameer Fakhoury, Ghadir Hani, Eran Tzidkiyahu, Orit Kamir, Orly Noy, Noam Shuster-Eliassi, Jessica Ausinheiler, Meirav Jones, Tal Correm, Anwar Mhajne, David Kretzmer, Omer Bartov, Rawia Aburabia, Hannah Safran, Tanya Zion-Waldoks, Galit Cohen-Kedem, Avi Shilon, Hagar Kotef, Merav Amir, Ali Al-Awar, and Nicholas Kristof.
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3111435040
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
Following the horrific attack on October 7, support for a devastating military retaliation and resolution has taken center stage. Nevertheless, within Israel, numerous critical voices cast doubt on the sustainability of such approaches. They champion the principles of morality, legality, and common sense as the true keys to a lasting solution. This book focuses on these voices which are critical of Israeli government policies. They are deeply grieving and affected by the October 7 attack, while also able to hold both Palestinian and Israeli pain and aspirations not as mutually exclusive, but as an impetus for creating a better and more equitable future for all who inhabit the land. It chronicles the reactions of intellectuals and scholars to unfolding events. All the pieces in this volume were written within a few days to a few months of October 7 and comprise an archive of a particular discourse taking shape in Israel at this historical juncture. The book is dedicated to the memory of Vivian Silver, who devoted her life to waging peace through valiant activism, and was murdered in her home on October 7. The editor’s royalties will go to support an annual lecture in her memory on the themes of peace and democracy. With contributions by Shaul Arieli, Eva Illouz, Idan Landau, Yaniv Ronen, Yofi Tirosh, Assaf David, Ameer Fakhoury, Ghadir Hani, Eran Tzidkiyahu, Orit Kamir, Orly Noy, Noam Shuster-Eliassi, Jessica Ausinheiler, Meirav Jones, Tal Correm, Anwar Mhajne, David Kretzmer, Omer Bartov, Rawia Aburabia, Hannah Safran, Tanya Zion-Waldoks, Galit Cohen-Kedem, Avi Shilon, Hagar Kotef, Merav Amir, Ali Al-Awar, and Nicholas Kristof.
The Crisis of Zionism
Author: Peter Beinart
Publisher: Melbourne Univ. Publishing
ISBN: 0522861768
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
A dramatic shift is taking place in Israel and America. In Israel, the deepening occupation of the West Bank is putting Israeli democracy at risk. In the United States, the refusal of major Jewish organisations to defend democracy in the Jewish state is alienating many young liberal Jews from Zionism itself. In the next generation, the liberal Zionist dream, the dream of a state that safeguards the Jewish people and cherishes democratic ideals, may die. In The Crisis of Zionism, Peter Beinart lays out in chilling detail the looming danger to Israeli democracy and the American Jewish establishment's refusal to confront it. And he offers a fascinating, groundbreaking portrait of the two leaders at the centre of the crisis: Barack Obama, America's first 'Jewish president', a man steeped in the liberalism he learned from his many Jewish friends and mentors in Chicago; and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who considers liberalism the Jewish people's special curse. These two men embody fundamentally different visions, not just of American and Israeli national interests, but of the mission of the Jewish people itself. Beinart concludes with provocative proposals for how the relationship between American Jews and Israel must change, and with an eloquent and moving appeal for American Jews to defend the dream of a democratic Jewish state before it is too late.
Publisher: Melbourne Univ. Publishing
ISBN: 0522861768
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
A dramatic shift is taking place in Israel and America. In Israel, the deepening occupation of the West Bank is putting Israeli democracy at risk. In the United States, the refusal of major Jewish organisations to defend democracy in the Jewish state is alienating many young liberal Jews from Zionism itself. In the next generation, the liberal Zionist dream, the dream of a state that safeguards the Jewish people and cherishes democratic ideals, may die. In The Crisis of Zionism, Peter Beinart lays out in chilling detail the looming danger to Israeli democracy and the American Jewish establishment's refusal to confront it. And he offers a fascinating, groundbreaking portrait of the two leaders at the centre of the crisis: Barack Obama, America's first 'Jewish president', a man steeped in the liberalism he learned from his many Jewish friends and mentors in Chicago; and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who considers liberalism the Jewish people's special curse. These two men embody fundamentally different visions, not just of American and Israeli national interests, but of the mission of the Jewish people itself. Beinart concludes with provocative proposals for how the relationship between American Jews and Israel must change, and with an eloquent and moving appeal for American Jews to defend the dream of a democratic Jewish state before it is too late.
The Only Language They Understand
Author: Nathan Thrall
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
ISBN: 1627797092
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
In a myth-busting analysis of the world's most intractable conflict, a star of Middle East reporting argues that only one weapon has yielded progress: confrontation. Scattered over the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lie the remnants of failed peace proposals, international summits, secret negotiations, UN resolutions and state-building efforts. The conventional story is that these well-meaning attempts at peacemaking were repeatedly thwarted by the use of violence. Through a rich interweaving of reportage, historical narrative and forceful analysis, Nathan Thrall presents a startling counter-history. He shows that Israelis and Palestinians have persistently been marching toward partition, but not through the high politics of diplomacy or the incremental building of a Palestinian state. In fact, negotiation, collaboration and state-building--the prescription of successive American administrations--have paradoxically entrenched the conflict in multiple ways. They have created the illusion that a solution is at hand, lessened Israel's incentives to end its control over the West Bank and Gaza and undermined Palestinian unity. Ultimately, it is those who have embraced confrontation through boycotts, lawsuits, resolutions imposed by outside powers, protests, civil disobedience, and even violence who have brought about the most significant change. Published as Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza reaches its fiftieth year, which is also the centenary of the Balfour Declaration that first promised a Jewish national home in Palestine, The Only Language They Understand advances a bold thesis that shatters ingrained positions of both left and right and provides a new and eye-opening understanding of this most vexed of lands.
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
ISBN: 1627797092
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
In a myth-busting analysis of the world's most intractable conflict, a star of Middle East reporting argues that only one weapon has yielded progress: confrontation. Scattered over the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lie the remnants of failed peace proposals, international summits, secret negotiations, UN resolutions and state-building efforts. The conventional story is that these well-meaning attempts at peacemaking were repeatedly thwarted by the use of violence. Through a rich interweaving of reportage, historical narrative and forceful analysis, Nathan Thrall presents a startling counter-history. He shows that Israelis and Palestinians have persistently been marching toward partition, but not through the high politics of diplomacy or the incremental building of a Palestinian state. In fact, negotiation, collaboration and state-building--the prescription of successive American administrations--have paradoxically entrenched the conflict in multiple ways. They have created the illusion that a solution is at hand, lessened Israel's incentives to end its control over the West Bank and Gaza and undermined Palestinian unity. Ultimately, it is those who have embraced confrontation through boycotts, lawsuits, resolutions imposed by outside powers, protests, civil disobedience, and even violence who have brought about the most significant change. Published as Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza reaches its fiftieth year, which is also the centenary of the Balfour Declaration that first promised a Jewish national home in Palestine, The Only Language They Understand advances a bold thesis that shatters ingrained positions of both left and right and provides a new and eye-opening understanding of this most vexed of lands.
Hamas and Palestine
Author: Martin Kear
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429999402
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263
Book Description
Hamas and Palestine: The Contested Road to Statehood analyses the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, between 2005 and 2017. The book expounds how Hamas has employed a dual resistance strategy, consisting of political and armed resistance, as a mechanism to achieve, maintain, and defend its continued political viability. Hamas entered politics to transform the role of the Palestinian Authority from an administrative institution into one driving the Palestinian quest for independence. To achieve this the analysis explains how Hamas implemented a process of soft-Islamisation in Gaza. This was intended to build the institutional capacity of the Authority based on the bureaucratisation and professionalisation of key institutions, while selectively increasing the role of Islam in society. The book provides a detailed explanation of key shifts in Hamas’s political behaviour as it adapts to the vagaries and vicissitudes of governing Gaza, despite the imposition of Israel’s political and economic siege. Employing the Inclusion-Moderation theoretical framework, the book traces Hamas’s transformation from a non-state armed group into a legitimate actor in Palestinian politics. The book’s analysis also highlights the key role that Hamas’s national liberation agenda has on shifting its behaviour towards adopting more moderate and inclusive policy stances. Specifically, the analysis demonstrates how Hamas has made measurable shifts in it political behaviour towards accepting the primacy of the two-state solution, and its dealings with Israel and the Peace Process. The book provides a comprehensive assessment of Hamas’s time in government and its capacity to deal with the vicissitudes of governing. It is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Middle East Politics.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429999402
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263
Book Description
Hamas and Palestine: The Contested Road to Statehood analyses the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, between 2005 and 2017. The book expounds how Hamas has employed a dual resistance strategy, consisting of political and armed resistance, as a mechanism to achieve, maintain, and defend its continued political viability. Hamas entered politics to transform the role of the Palestinian Authority from an administrative institution into one driving the Palestinian quest for independence. To achieve this the analysis explains how Hamas implemented a process of soft-Islamisation in Gaza. This was intended to build the institutional capacity of the Authority based on the bureaucratisation and professionalisation of key institutions, while selectively increasing the role of Islam in society. The book provides a detailed explanation of key shifts in Hamas’s political behaviour as it adapts to the vagaries and vicissitudes of governing Gaza, despite the imposition of Israel’s political and economic siege. Employing the Inclusion-Moderation theoretical framework, the book traces Hamas’s transformation from a non-state armed group into a legitimate actor in Palestinian politics. The book’s analysis also highlights the key role that Hamas’s national liberation agenda has on shifting its behaviour towards adopting more moderate and inclusive policy stances. Specifically, the analysis demonstrates how Hamas has made measurable shifts in it political behaviour towards accepting the primacy of the two-state solution, and its dealings with Israel and the Peace Process. The book provides a comprehensive assessment of Hamas’s time in government and its capacity to deal with the vicissitudes of governing. It is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Middle East Politics.
Free Speech on Campus
Author: Erwin Chemerinsky
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300231865
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
Can free speech coexist with an inclusive campus environment? Hardly a week goes by without another controversy over free speech on college campuses. On one side, there are increased demands to censor hateful, disrespectful, and bullying expression and to ensure an inclusive and nondiscriminatory learning environment. On the other side are traditional free speech advocates who charge that recent demands for censorship coddle students and threaten free inquiry. In this clear and carefully reasoned book, a university chancellor and a law school dean—both constitutional scholars who teach a course in free speech to undergraduates—argue that campuses must provide supportive learning environments for an increasingly diverse student body but can never restrict the expression of ideas. This book provides the background necessary to understanding the importance of free speech on campus and offers clear prescriptions for what colleges can and can’t do when dealing with free speech controversies.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300231865
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
Can free speech coexist with an inclusive campus environment? Hardly a week goes by without another controversy over free speech on college campuses. On one side, there are increased demands to censor hateful, disrespectful, and bullying expression and to ensure an inclusive and nondiscriminatory learning environment. On the other side are traditional free speech advocates who charge that recent demands for censorship coddle students and threaten free inquiry. In this clear and carefully reasoned book, a university chancellor and a law school dean—both constitutional scholars who teach a course in free speech to undergraduates—argue that campuses must provide supportive learning environments for an increasingly diverse student body but can never restrict the expression of ideas. This book provides the background necessary to understanding the importance of free speech on campus and offers clear prescriptions for what colleges can and can’t do when dealing with free speech controversies.
Zionism’s Redemptions
Author: Arieh Saposnik
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 131651711X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Zionism combined dialogues with Jewish, Christian, and secular messianisms to create a politics based in redemptive visions of its own.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 131651711X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Zionism combined dialogues with Jewish, Christian, and secular messianisms to create a politics based in redemptive visions of its own.
Hamas and Israel
Author: Sherifa Zuhur
Publisher: Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 112
Book Description
Efforts to separate HAMAS from its popular support and network of social and charitable organizations have not been effective in destroying the organization, nor in eradicating the will to resist among a fairly large segment of the Palestinian population. It is important to consider this Islamist movement in the context of a region-wide phenomenon of similar movements with local goals, which can be persuaded to relinquish violence or which could become more violent. Certainly an orientation to HAMAS and its base must be factored into new and more practical and effective approaches to peacemaking in the region. At the same time, HAMAS offers a fascinating glimpse of the dynamics of strategic reactions and the modification of Israeli impulses towards aggressive deterrence, as well as the evolution in the Islamist movements' planning and operations. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict bears similarities to a long-standing civil conflict, even as it has sparked inter-Palestinian hostilities in its most recent phase.
Publisher: Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 112
Book Description
Efforts to separate HAMAS from its popular support and network of social and charitable organizations have not been effective in destroying the organization, nor in eradicating the will to resist among a fairly large segment of the Palestinian population. It is important to consider this Islamist movement in the context of a region-wide phenomenon of similar movements with local goals, which can be persuaded to relinquish violence or which could become more violent. Certainly an orientation to HAMAS and its base must be factored into new and more practical and effective approaches to peacemaking in the region. At the same time, HAMAS offers a fascinating glimpse of the dynamics of strategic reactions and the modification of Israeli impulses towards aggressive deterrence, as well as the evolution in the Islamist movements' planning and operations. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict bears similarities to a long-standing civil conflict, even as it has sparked inter-Palestinian hostilities in its most recent phase.
The Wondering Jew
Author: Micah Goodman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300252242
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
A celebrated Israeli author explores the roots of the divide between religion and secularism in Israel today, and offers a path to bridging the divide "A thoughtful social, political, and philosophical examination of Judaism. . . . A cogent consideration of the place of religion in the modern world."--Kirkus Reviews Zionism began as a movement full of contradictions, between a pull to the past and a desire to forge a new future. Israel has become a place of fragmentation, between those who sanctify religious tradition and those who wish to escape its grasp. Now, a new middle ground is emerging between religious and secular Jews who want to engage with their heritage--without being restricted by it or losing it completely. In this incisive book, acclaimed author Micah Goodman explores Israeli Judaism and the conflict between religion and secularism, one of the major causes of political polarization throughout the world. Revisiting traditional religious sources and seminal works of secularism, he reveals that each contains an openness to learn from the other's messages. Goodman challenges both orthodoxies, proposing a new approach to bridge the divide between religion and secularism and pave a path toward healing a society torn asunder by extremism.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300252242
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
A celebrated Israeli author explores the roots of the divide between religion and secularism in Israel today, and offers a path to bridging the divide "A thoughtful social, political, and philosophical examination of Judaism. . . . A cogent consideration of the place of religion in the modern world."--Kirkus Reviews Zionism began as a movement full of contradictions, between a pull to the past and a desire to forge a new future. Israel has become a place of fragmentation, between those who sanctify religious tradition and those who wish to escape its grasp. Now, a new middle ground is emerging between religious and secular Jews who want to engage with their heritage--without being restricted by it or losing it completely. In this incisive book, acclaimed author Micah Goodman explores Israeli Judaism and the conflict between religion and secularism, one of the major causes of political polarization throughout the world. Revisiting traditional religious sources and seminal works of secularism, he reveals that each contains an openness to learn from the other's messages. Goodman challenges both orthodoxies, proposing a new approach to bridge the divide between religion and secularism and pave a path toward healing a society torn asunder by extremism.
Farewell to the Horse
Author: Ulrich Raulff
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241257611
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 'A beautiful and thoughtful exploration of the role of the horse in creating our world' James Rebanks 'Scintillating, exhilarating ... you have never read a book like it ... a new way of considering history' Observer The relationship between horses and humans is an ancient, profound and complex one. For millennia horses provided the strength and speed that humans lacked. How we travelled, farmed and fought was dictated by the needs of this extraordinary animal. And then, suddenly, in the 20th century the links were broken and the millions of horses that shared our existence almost vanished, eking out a marginal existence on race-tracks and pony clubs. Farewell to the Horse is an engaging, brilliantly written and moving discussion of what horses once meant to us. Cities, farmland, entire industries were once shaped as much by the needs of horses as humans. The intervention of horses was fundamental in countless historical events. They were sculpted, painted, cherished, admired; they were thrashed, abused and exposed to terrible danger. From the Roman Empire to the Napoleonic Empire every world-conqueror needed to be shown on a horse. Tolstoy once reckoned that he had cumulatively spent some nine years of his life on horseback. Ulrich Raulff's book, a bestseller in Germany, is a superb monument to the endlessly various creature who has so often shared and shaped our fate.
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241257611
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 'A beautiful and thoughtful exploration of the role of the horse in creating our world' James Rebanks 'Scintillating, exhilarating ... you have never read a book like it ... a new way of considering history' Observer The relationship between horses and humans is an ancient, profound and complex one. For millennia horses provided the strength and speed that humans lacked. How we travelled, farmed and fought was dictated by the needs of this extraordinary animal. And then, suddenly, in the 20th century the links were broken and the millions of horses that shared our existence almost vanished, eking out a marginal existence on race-tracks and pony clubs. Farewell to the Horse is an engaging, brilliantly written and moving discussion of what horses once meant to us. Cities, farmland, entire industries were once shaped as much by the needs of horses as humans. The intervention of horses was fundamental in countless historical events. They were sculpted, painted, cherished, admired; they were thrashed, abused and exposed to terrible danger. From the Roman Empire to the Napoleonic Empire every world-conqueror needed to be shown on a horse. Tolstoy once reckoned that he had cumulatively spent some nine years of his life on horseback. Ulrich Raulff's book, a bestseller in Germany, is a superb monument to the endlessly various creature who has so often shared and shaped our fate.