In Search of Israel : The History of an Idea

A major new history of the century-long debate over what a Jewish state should beMany Zionists who advocated for the creation of a Jewish state envisioned a nation like any other.

Yet for Israel's founders, the nation that emerged against all odds in 1948 was anything but ordinary.

Born from the ashes of genocide and a long history of suffering, Israel was conceived to be unique, a model society and the heart of a prosperous new Middle East.

It is this paradox, says historian Michael Brenner—the Jewish people's wish for a homeland both normal and exceptional—that shapes Israel's ongoing struggle to define itself and secure a place among nations.

In Search of Israel is a major new history of this struggle from the late nineteenth century to our time.