On Palestine, a current Penguin Specials number that in spirit hearkens back to the origins of the series, is a case of form and content dovetailing nicely. In 200 brisk pages, Ilan Pappé and Noam Chomsky offer some explanation of, and counter-narrative to, the bewildering and unconvincing representations of Israel-Palestine that we regularly hear from politicians and mainstream media. The two are both progressives but differ somewhat on outcome visions—Pappé's preference is a one-state settlement, whereas Chomsky thinks that will be an evolutionary outcome but that some version of a two-state settlement must come first. About half of this book is comprised of the "Dialogues" section where Chomsky and Pappé are interviewed simultaneously, creating some illuminating give and take. They are especially interesting on the question of how Israel is similar to, and different from, apartheid-era South Africa.The final 60 pages are a series of short pieces, alternating between the two scholars, that usefully take up Israel's recent military attacks on Gaza. A straightforward read that nevertheless offers plenty of leads for further, deeper reading. ( )