Includes bibliographical references (pages 521-599) and index.
Introduction: Until we meet again -- Khalil al-Sakakini receives a visitor -- "A contract with Jewry" -- Self-service -- Ego versus ego -- Between Mohammed and Mr. Cohen -- Nebi Musa, 1920 -- A steady gaze and a firm jaw -- Jaffa, 1921 -- Culture wars -- Yefim Gordin comes to Palestine -- A new man -- Negotiations with friends -- The nerves of Jerusalem -- Hebron, 1929 -- Breakfast at Chequers -- Hamlet in Bir Zeit -- Khalil al-Sakakini builds a home -- Made in Palestine -- The story of a donkey -- Ireland in Palestine -- Hunting season -- "Give me a country without wars" -- The last salute.
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Journalist Segev explores the dramatic period before the creation of the state of Israel, when Britain ruled over "one Palestine, complete" (as noted in the receipt signed by the High Commissioner) and when its promise to both Jews and Arabs that they would inherit the land set in motion the conflict that haunts the region to this day. Drawing on untapped archival materials, Segev reconstructs a tumultuous era (1917 to 1948) of limitless possibilities and tragic missteps. He tracks the steady advance of Jews and Arabs toward confrontation and puts forward a radical new argument: that the British, far from being pro-Arab, as commonly thought, consistently favored the Zionist position, and did so out of the mistaken -- and anti-Semitic -- belief that Jews turned the wheels of history.