Palestine

Discussion of the Balfour Declaration and the birth of the British Mandate for Palestine in early 20th century.

1941 The High Walls of Jerusalem: A History of the Balfour Declaration and the Birth of the British Manifesto for Palestine, by Ronald Sanders (read 29 Aug 1985) I sometimes read history which covers too broad a topic. This excellent and enjoyable book cannot be accused of that defect. It tells the story of the events leading to the Balfour Declaration of November 1917. It takes about 700 pages to tell that story and of the events leading to the British mandate for Palestine, but the story is well-told and unfailingly interesting. I am not especially interested in Israel, but the story is key to an understanding of events leading up to the creation of Israel. And of course in the book there is a lot of talk about World War One, which made all seem like familiar territory, though I had never read much about the subject of this book before. An excellent book. ( )