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Start giftingThe Six-Day War
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Learn moreOne fateful week in June 1967 redrew the map of the Middle East. Many scholars have documented how the Six-Day War unfolded, but little has been done to explain why the conflict happened at all. As we approach its fiftieth anniversary, Guy Laron refutes the widely accepted belief that the war was merely the result of regional friction, revealing the crucial roles played by American and Soviet policies in the face of an encroaching global economic crisis, and restoring Syria’s often overlooked centrality to events leading up to the hostilities.
The Six-Day War effectively sowed the seeds for the downfall of Arab nationalism, the growth of Islamic extremism, and the animosity between Jews and Palestinians. In this important new work, Laron’s fresh interdisciplinary perspective and extensive archival research offer a significant reassessment of a conflict—and the trigger-happy generals behind it—that continues to shape the modern world.
Guy Laron is a writer and a lecturer in the department of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His articles have appeared in scholarly journals such as Third World Quarterly, Journal of Cold War Studies, and International Journal of Middle East Studies. Previously, he was a visiting assistant professor at Northwestern University and a visiting fellow at University of Oxford.
William Hughes is a professor of political science, jazz guitarist, and an actor and narrator. Books he has narrated include FDR: The First Hundred Days by Anthony J. Badger, Brothers, Rivals, Victors by Jonathan W. Jordan, and Lincoln’s Spymaster by David Hepburn Milton.
Reviews
“The author looks beyond Cold War maneuvering to examine the conflict in other lights, including the economic…Laron connects many of those events to current trends and developments, including Israel’s ‘cult of the offensive.’”
“Scholars of political economy, US foreign relations, Middle East history, and international relations will find much food for thought here.”
“In this fine work, Guy Laron, a young historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, takes a fresh look at the war and its causes…Like all the best history, Laron’s book is studded with fascinating facts and anecdotes that shed light on his theories.”
“Since the thirty-year declassification rule opened up the Israel State Archives to researchers in 1997, a number of books…have recast the David and Goliath myth that had risen up around the events of May and June 1967. Israel is no longer seen as the weak and passive actor threatened with a second Holocaust and forced into a pre-emptive attack, but as a confident strategist taking advantage of Egypt and Syria’s blundering brinkmanship to fulfill a long-planned expansion…A new history of the lead-up to the war by Guy Laron, The Six-Day War…reinforces this narrative..This was a boost to uncompromising nationalistic visions on both sides, giving birth to a messianic settler movement and violent strains of Palestinian terrorism.”
“A lively study…his work is to be commended.”
“Israel today has a raft of ‘post-Zionist’ academics and journalists for whom everything the country has done is a standing moral reproach. Writing more in sorrow than in anger, Guy Laron takes a different approach, examining how and why the war occurred at all.”
“Both impressive and disheartening…it should be required reading for President-elect Donald Trump. Readers will learn that it’s sometimes much easier for leaders to go to war than to make peace…At the very least, we ordinary citizens should read it.”
“Drawing upon interdisciplinary knowledge and exhaustive archival research, The Six-Day War is a sober, edifying, and highly recommended contribution to public and college library audiobook collections.”
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