Armed Struggle and the Search for State

comprehensive and complete, and may, indeed be unique in terms of its combination of careful scholarship and an inside perspective * Rashid Khalidi, Middle East Journal, Vol 53, No 4, Autumn 1999 *
This book is likely to be the last word on the topic of Palestinian armed struggle, both because there is little to say beyond Yezid Sayigh's extensive chronicle and analysis, and because it examines a phase of Palestinian history that has definitively ended ... This work is monumental for reasons which go far beyond its hefty size, because of the intensive research involved ... Few authors could have brought to this task the necessary expertise and personal experience, combined with a critical faculty and apparently inexhaustible patience ... all serious students of the subject will appreciate this book's comprehensive analysis of the Palestinian national movement. * Rashid Khalidi, Middle East Journal, Vol 53, No 4, Autumn 1999 *
With 692 pages of text and 148 pages of notes, this massive work may well be used more as a reference than a book to be read cover to cover. The 68 page bibliography alone offers a treasure trove for scholars. Sayigh presents rich detail bur always keeps a clear focus on the many individuals, groups and ideologies that shape the PLO.-L.C. Brown. Foreign Affairs Vol.77 No. 6.
This is the best book on the Palestinian nationalist movement. It is based on rich and original sources and accompanied by an unprecedented number of oral interviews with most of the major figures of the nationalist movement. All major libraries and anyone interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict will want to read this book. R.W. Olson. CHOICE. December 1998.
'...although I have been trying to understand the subject myself for many decades, I learned a huge amount that was new or that allowed me to see matters from quite a different perspective. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who takes a series interest in the 20th century Middle East and it would immediately enter my list of the best ten books written about the modern history of the region. - Roger Owen, Harvard University
The 900 page volume ...stands as one of the most significant contributions to the history of Palestinian nationalism and the assessment of armed struggle of our times. - International Affairs
It is probably true that only a Palestinian with extraordinary access and skills could have written an intimate and comprehensive history of the PNM... Sayigh put more than 15 years of work and a blend of empathy, experience, scholarship and dispassionate analysis into this book... it is a monumental achievement, superseding all previous work on the subject. - Times Literary Supplement
It is an immensely learned work...it is also well-written and exciting reading, as a result of the profound commitment of the author to the Palestinian cause which, much to his credit, never stands in the way of scholarly analysis and detachment. - International Research Newsletter.
"...stimulating and meticulous study..." "As well as providing a detailed historical account of the background to these developments, Sayigh has also succeeded in providing a satisfying intellectual framework for understanding the processes which have carried forward the narrative of Palestinian identity and state formation during the years of dispersal." C. Tripp, Middle Eastern Studies, 2000
"This book is likely to be the last word on the topic of Paletinian armed struggle..." "The product of [Sayigh's] prodigious effort is comprehensive and complete, and may indeed be unique in terms of its combination of careful scholarship and an inside perspective." Rashid Khalidi, Middle East Journal, 2000
Yezid Sayigh's magisterial study of the Palestinian armed struggle, ... This is a book of Tolstoyan scale, massive, detailed, across whose pages stride a complex cast of characters with multiple names. ... an encyclopaedic history of the Palestinian national movement after the 1948 war. ... An important political study of the role of the armed struggle in State formation critical for an understanding of the Palestinian National Authority today. ... Sayigh's account is balanced in all ways. His writing shows remarkable detachment and avoids partisanship. ... The narrative is also very balanced in its coverage. There is no weak section to the book in which the documentation falls short of Sayigh's consistently high standard. The documentation confirms this book's standing as the definitive study of the Palestinian movement against which all subsequent works will be judged. * Eugene Rogan, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies *