'The Revolt' by Menachem Begin

Autobiographical to a fault.

I picked up 'The Revolt' hoping for a detail narrative of endless battles as Israel fought to attain then fought to retain statehood. Instead I got a, thinly veiled polemic against the Hagganah and Jewish Council leaders bowing and scraping to the British in the years leading to Israel’s jump to recognition on the International stage.

Scathing in it’s, albeit rightly deserved, contempt for the British attempt at maintaining control of their tiny hub in the Middle East, this autobiography also glorifies the actions and reasoning behind said actions of the Irgun. The Irgun was the independent Jewish Militia responsible for almost all the unrest leading upto, and causing, the pullout of Britains troops in the late 1940’s. While other groups were striving to attain a nation diplomatically the Irgun understood the true intent behind all the British were doing, claiming to do, and planning to do. This understanding led them to initiate, maintain and stiffen the armed resistance that, Begin claims, led to the triumphant return of the State of Israel to modern maps.

I know very little, or rather nothing, of what Menachem Begin accomplished or strove for in his time as Israel’s Prime Minister but this novel clearly lays out his belief in the strong hand being the only respectable hand. In nearly a decade of living ‘underground’ he was the most highly sought after and never uncovered agent in the Anti-British movement prior to their leaving Palestine.

I was hoping for narrative of epic battles but got a far more academic, and obscenely biased, outline of the planning phases, ramifications, and justifiable defense of the Irgun ideals. While I can easily admire Begin’s ingenuity, the valor displayed by his compatriots and the brilliant insight indicative of all their plans, I would not choose to read another book written by Begin himself.