Yom Kippur War The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East

A revised edition of the definitive history of the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict--including new information previously subject to military censorship--by the journalist who covered it for The Jerusalem Post.
In 2004, Schocken published this galvanizing account of what became known as the Yom Kippur War. The surprise two-front war triggered apocalyptic visions in Israel, hopes and fears in the Arab world, and heated internal conflicts on both sides. Using extensive interviews and declassified materials, Rabinovich masterfully outlined the story of this war in this critically acclaimed volume. More than a decade later, new information--formerly blocked by military censorship--has come to light. Previously unexamined sources, transcripts, and tape recordings now offer an even more complex and intriguing history of the war. With this new information, Rabinovich revisits his classic account of the war and updates it with new stories, new facts, and new photographs, further establishing The Yom Kippur War as our most trusted and definitive source on the subject.

A galvanizing account of the 1973 Yom Kippur War by a journalist who covered it for The Jerusalem Post.
The most dramatic of the Arab-Israeli conflicts, the surprise two-front war triggered apocalyptic visions in Israel, hopes and fears in the Arab world, and heated internal conflicts on both sides. Using extensive interviews and personal stories, as well as recently declassified materials, Abraham Rabinovich begins his masterful narrative as Israel is convincing itself there will be no war, while the Arabs are in fact plotting it. The account continues through the explosive start of hostilities and follows the harrowing conflict to its climactic end.

An updated edition that sheds new light on one of the most dramatic reversals of military fortune in modern history.

The easing of Israeli military censorship after four decades has enabled Abraham Rabinovich to offer fresh insights into this fiercest of Israel-Arab conflicts. A surprise Arab attack on two fronts on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, with Israel's reserves un-mobilized, triggered apocalyptic visions in Israel, euphoria in the Arab world, and fraught debates on both sides. Rabinovich, who covered the war for The Jerusalem Post, draws on extensive interviews and primary source material to shape his enthralling narrative. We learn of two Egyptian nationals, working separately for the Mossad, who supplied Israel with key information that helped change the course of the war; of Defense Minister Moshe Dayan's proposal for a nuclear "demonstration" to warn off the Arabs; and of Chief of Staff David Elazar's conclusion on the fifth day of battle that Israel could not win. Newly available transcripts enable us to follow the decision-making process in real time from the prime minister's office to commanders studying maps in the field. After almost overrunning the Golan Heights, the Syrian attack is broken in desperate battles. And as Israel regains its psychological balance, General Ariel Sharon leads a nighttime counterattack across the Suez Canal through a narrow hole in the Egyptian line -- the turning point of the war.

Abraham Rabinovich, a graduate of Brooklyn College and a United States Army veteran, worked as a reporter for Newsday before joining the Jerusalem Post. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, the International Herald Tribune, and The New Republic, among other publications. The author of several books, including The Boats of Cherbourg, he lives in Jerusalem.

From the Hardcover edition.