Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947

Anonymous Soldiers details the bloody establishment of Israel. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 set the stage for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Thirty years of turmoil would ensue before Israel would come into being. Hoffman’s book details the rule of Palestine by the British government and the tumult that would ravage the Middle East caused by British mismanagement, as well as the violent responses of rebellion and terrorism from both the Arab and Jewish peoples. Many preeminent personalities in both Israeli and British culture figure in the story, from future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Winston Churchill and Field Marshal Montgomery. The Jewish rebels, represented by the Irgun, become the antagonists to the British by attacking the infrastructure of Palestine and striking at the heart of British rule. The Brits will be eventually be undone by their response and prejudices.

Hoffman’s book is an exhaustive account of a truly troubling and turbulent period in the twentieth century. It is a fair, unbiased account that shows all sides in their respective lights, flattering or not. The fight for one’s one homeland (Jewish or Palestinian) still continues.