The Hope

by Herman Wouk

The Back Cover

Herman Wouk is one of this century's great historical novelists. Now the author of The Winds of War and War and Remembrance turns to one of the most thrilling stories of our time - the saga of Israel.

The Hope plunges the reader into the battles, disasters, and victories of a nation struggling for its birth and then its survival. Here are four unforgettable men: Zev Barak, the cultured soldier; Benny Luria, ace fighter pilot with religious stirrings; Sam Pasternak, the sardonic, slightly sinister Mossad man; and the antic warrior called Quixote. And here are three equally remarkable women: Yael, the ambitious blond powerhouse; Shayna, the dark pious beauty; and Emily, an American CIA man's fascinating daughter caught in a forbidden love affair.

Ranging from the Sinai to Jerusalem to the White House, from 1948 to 1967,The Hope has the authenticity and authority of Wouk's finest fiction - and strikes a resounding chord of hope for all humanity.

The Location

Click on thumbnail images to see a larger image in a separate window.

	Israel and its neighbors in 1990.
	Areas of Israel
	2001 - Shows cities in Israel more clearly than the other maps.
	Turkey in the north, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Libya.
	The Middle East at night.
	View of Israel from Negev to Turkey's Mediterranean coast, also includes eastern part of Cyprus.
	Southern part of Israel and Sinai desert.
	Sinai, Eilat and Nile delta in Egypt

The Timeline

Following is a brief timeline showing some of the more important events in modern Israeli history. Events that are covered in The Hope are in blue.

1516 - 1916   Area Ruled by Ottoman Turks
1897          World Zionist Organisation founded in Switzerland
1914 - 1918   World War I
              Among the other conflicts during WWI, Great Britain
              was at war with Turkey, and to gain the support of 
              others in its war efforts, Great Britain made several
              conflicting promises regarding the Middle East (an
              area then controlled by the Ottoman Turks).  Some
              conflicting promises included:
                -Promises of independence for Arab countries 
                (correspondence with Husein ibn Ali of Mecca).
                -The sharing of the the Middle East with France
                 and Russia (Syke-Picot Agreement).
                -And support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine
                 (Balfour Declaration).             
 1917         Balfour Declaration
              During World War I, British government promises
              to support the establishment of a national home
              in Palestine for the Jewish people.
 1918 - 1948  British Rule of Palestine
              Britain takes Palestine from Turkey, and in 1922
              the League of Nations entrusts Great Britain with
              the temporary administration of Palestine on behalf
              of Jewish and Arab inhabitants, (Palestinian Mandate).
 1936 - 1939  Palestinian Revolt
              Arabs living in Palestine demand a stop to Jewish
              immigration into the area.
 1939 - 1945  World War II
              More than 5 million Jews killed by Nazis.
 1947         UN Partition Plan
              Britain wants to become disentangled with Palestine,
              so the United Nations comes up with a plan to divide
              Palestine into Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem
              under UN administration.  The Palestinian Mandate for
              Britain was scheduled to end in 1948.
 1948        State of Israel Proclaimed (14 May)
              Recognizing that Britain was pulling out of Palestine,
              the Jews in Palestine decided to implement that part
              of the UN Partition Plan that called for establishing
              a separate Jewish State: the State of Israel.
              Israel Invaded by Five Arab States (15 May)
              Israel invaded by Egypt, Jordan (Transjordan at the
              time) Syria, and Iraq.
 1948 - 1949  War of Independence
              First Arab-Israeli war.  Arabs failed to prevent the
              establishment of a Jewish state.
 1949         Armistice agreements signed
              Agreements signed with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and
              Syria. In the agreements, Egypt was to keep the Gaza
              strip, and the West Bank was annexed to Jordan.
              Although the UN partition plan called for both a Jewish
              and an Arab sovereign state, only the state of Israel
              was established.  No Palestinian state was ever
              established, and thousands of Arabs previously living
              in what was now Israel became refugees in neighboring
              Arab states.  
 1950         Jerusalem Proclaimed Capital of Israel
              This was not recognized by the international community.
 1956         Sinai Campaign              
              A series of events that caused Israel to fear for its
              continued existence led to the second Arab Israeli war.
              These events included:
                -A military buildup by Egypt on the Sinai peninsula.
                -Cross border terrorist attacks in Israel.
                -Tripartate military alliance signed between Egypt,
                 Syria, and Jordan.
                -Refusal by Egypt to allow Israel to use the Suez
                 canal and blocked the Straits of Tiran, thus
                 blocking Israel's access to the Red Sea.
              Israel considered this to be an act of war and so
              launched an assualt in the Sinai beginning the  
              second Arab-Israeli war.  Britain and France made
              token appearances on the side Israel late in the
              eight day campaign, but Israel quickly took the Gaza
              Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, and had reached the
              Suez Canal before Britain and France joined in the
              attack.  The UN called for an end to the conflict,
              and required Israel, Britain, and France to pull out
              of Egypt and Gaza.
 1967         Six-Day War
              Fearful of the mounting Arab military might being 
              amassed on Israel's borders, and in response to Egypt's
              again blocking the Straits of Tiran, Israel attacked
              Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.  In six days Israel had taken
              the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, East Jerusalem and the
              West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
1970          Israeli Air Force Defeats Soviets Over Egypt
              Border skirmishes in the Sinai were common following
              Israel's capture of the Sinai in the Six-Day War.
              Egypt had requested and obtained assistance from the
              Soviet Union, and in 1970 the Israeli Air Force defeated
              Soviet pilots over Egypt.
1973          Yom Kippur War
              Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel in
              an attempt to retake the territory seized by Israel
              during the Six-Day War in 1967.  The attack occurred
              during Yom Kippur, a holy day of fasting in Israel.
              After several weeks of intense fighting, Israeli forces
              pushed the attackers back and advanced into Egyptian
              and Syrian territory.  Afterwards, two years of
              negotiating resulted in disengagement agreements in
              which Israel was to withdraw from territories captured
              during the war.
1976          Rescue at Entebbe
              In 1976 pro-Palestinian guerrillas hijacked an Air France
              plane as it left Athens.  The terrorists forced the plane
              to the Entebbe airport in Uganda and threatened to start
              killing Jewish passengers unless Israel released some 40
              convicted terrorists.  Israeli special forces made a dram-
              atic rescue in which all of the hijackers were killed and
              and all of the hostages safely rescued.
1977          Anwar Sadat Visits Jerusalem
              The Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, breaks from the
              Arab position of "no peace with Israel, no negotiations
              with Israel, and no recognition of Israel" by his visit
              to Jerusalem in 1977 where he called on the Israelis to
              begin peace talks.
1978          Camp David
              The United States president, Jimmy Carter, sponsored
              peace talks between Egypt and Israel at Camp David
              Maryland.
1979          Peace Treaty
              Peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel signed
              in Washington D.C.
1981          Israeli Air Strike Destroys Iraqi Nuclear Reactor
              The destruction of the Iraqi Nuclear Reactor by the
              Israeli Air Force received worldwide criticism, but
              as Herman Wouk notes, one pilot in the attack later
              commented "that it took the Gulf War to prove the
              need and worth of the operation."
1988          Israel Celebrates Independence Day
1991          Gulf War
              Iraq invades Kuwait, and the United States rushes in
              to the rescue.  During the war Israel was attacked by
              Iraqi missiles; however, at the urging of the inter-
              national communittee Israel refrains from retaliation.
1994          Rabin, Peres, Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1995          Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Assassinated
              Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assisinated by a
              Jewish extremist.  Foreign Minister Shimon Peres
              appointed as acting Prime Minister until next elections.
1996          Benjamin Netanyahu Elected Prime Minister

Comments

My Comments

This was the book that got me hooked on historical novels. Easy to read; interesting characters; enjoyable romances; lots of history.  Well worth picking up a copy.

Comments from Others

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