Front cover image for Lion of Jordan : the life of King Hussein in war and peace

Lion of Jordan : the life of King Hussein in war and peace

Avi Shlaim
From the Publisher: During his long reign (1953-1999), King Hussein of Jordan was one of the most dominant figures in Middle Eastern politics and a consistent proponent of peace with Israel. This is the first major account of his life, written with access to his official documents and with the cooperation (but not approval) of his family and staff, and also extensive interviews with international policy makers. For more than forty years, Hussein walked a tightrope between the Palestinians and Arab radicals on the one hand and Israel on the other. Avi Shlaim reveals that, for the sake of dynastic and national survival, Hussein initiated a secret dialogue with Israel in 1963 that encompassed more than one thousand hours with Golda Meir, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, and countless others. Shlaim reconstructs this dialogue across battle lines from previously untapped Israeli records and the firsthand accounts of key participants, and makes clear that it was Israeli intransigence that was largely responsible for the failure to achieve a peaceful settlement between 1967 and 1994. At Hussein's memorial service at St. Paul's Cathedral, the Prince of Wales hailed him as "a man amongst men, a king amongst kings." Lion of Jordan illuminates the triumphs and disappointments, the qualities and character of this extraordinary soldier and statesman, and significantly rewrites the history of the Middle East over the past fifty years
eBook, English, 2008
1st U.S. ed View all formats and editions
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2008
1 online resource (xxi, 723 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, maps
9780307270511, 9780141903644, 0307270513, 0141903643
648502503
The Hashemite heritage
Murder of a mentor
The making of a king
The Baghdad pact fiasco
The dismissal of Glubb
The liberal experiment
A royal coup
The year of revolution
Arab foes and Jewish friends
The Palestinian challenge
The road to war
Picking up the pieces
Dialogue across the battle lines
Civil war
The United Arab Kingdom plan
The October War
The road to Rabat
The Camp David Accords
Lebanon and the Reagan Plan
Peace partnership with the PLO
The London Agreement
Intifada and disengagement
The Gulf Crisis and war
From Madrid to Oslo
Peace treaty
The King's peace
Collision course
The last journey
Epilogue : the life and legacy
Jordanian secret meetings with Israeli officials
The Hashemite Dynasty
Chronology
Interviews
Electronic reproduction, [Place of publication not identified], HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010