Excellent ... A detailed, even-handed account of the world's most intractable and damaging political dispute ('Books of the Year' Sunday Times)

Excellent ... Ian Black brings a fresh perspective to one of the most closely studied conflicts on Earth, unpacking its complexities with clarity and candour (Anshel Pfeffer Observer)

Comprehensive and compelling ... A nuanced, landmark study that has deservedly won plaudits from both Palestinian and Israeli historians (Justin Marozzi The Times)

Compelling ... Merits close reading for its rich detail and rare subtlety ... Denies made-up minds their soothing certainties ... A reading of uncommon clarity, informed by extensive research and keen insight (Stephen Daisley Spectator)

[A] wonderful new history of Palestine and Israel ... For its clarity and balance, Black's work stands tall in a field that is likely to continue growing (Economist)

A good read..... sharp, fast paragraphs filled with vivid detail...keeps a tight focus on events on the ground. Punctures the view...that Palestinians bear virtually all the blame for the failure of recent efforts to create a Palestinian state (Peter Beinart, 'Editor's Choice' New York Times)

A remarkable book that combines sharp insight with absolute impartiality on one of the world's most complex and intractable conflicts. Black captures the voices of the Palestinians and Israelis with equal compassion, and holds their leaders to account with equal severity. An outstanding accomplishment (Eugene Rogan, author of 'The Arabs: A History')

Superbly researched and highly readable. Even those who are well read on the subject will find new insights that had escaped them (Raja Shehadeh, author of 'Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape')

When Israeli and Palestinian historians eventually sit down together to compose a single narrative to replace their bitterly conflicting histories, they will find that Ian Black's book has already done it for them. This brilliant, dispassionate work leaves us, curiously, optimistic - for he shows us that there is a middle ground (Meron Benvenisti, author of 'Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948')

In its fine balance of historical sweep and telling detail, in its sharp analysis of social, economic, and political forces, and in its exceptional fairness to all sides, Ian Black's thorough and incisive history of the struggle between Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel is the book every student of this conflict should read first. A remarkable achievement (Nathan Thrall, author of 'The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine')

Ian Black was Middle East editor of the Guardian until 2016. In over 35 years he was also the paper's Jerusalem Correspondent, Diplomatic Editor, European Editor and Chief Foreign Editorial Writer. He has covered major events in the Middle East, from the Iran-Iraq War to the Palestinian Intifadas and the Arab Spring. He is now a visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics. He is the author of Zionism and the Arabs, 1936-1939 and Israel's Secret Wars (with Benny Morris), and appears regularly on BBC TV and radio, Sky News and Al-Jazeera.