A State at Any Cost

The Life of David Ben-Gurion

By: Tom Segev, Haim Watzman - translator

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

In this definitive biography, Israel's leading journalist-historian, Tom Segev, uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around Ben-Gurion. Segev's probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion's relentless activity across six decades. Along the way, Segev reveals for the first time Ben-Gurion's secret negotiations with the British on the eve of Israel's independence, his willingness to countenance the forced transfer of Arab neighbors, his relative indifference to Jerusalem, and his occasional "nutty moments". Segev also reveals that Ben-Gurion first heard about the Holocaust from a Palestinian Arab acquaintance and explores his tempestuous private life, including the testimony of four former lovers.

The result is a full and startling portrait of a man who sought a state "at any cost" - at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev's Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor who belongs in the company of Lenin or Churchill.

©2019 Tom Segev; translation copyright 2019 by Haim Watzman (P)2019 Tantor

Tedious

Not enough policy , too much personal, too much family, not sufficiently engaged with other leadership or leaders

Lots of detail good and bad. The book wad about six hours too long

we learn every detail of his life. To much stuff about friends, bodyguards etc. The book was to unbalanced.We needed to hear more negative stuf

Terrible narration

Several other readers'/listeners have remarked on the terrible narration in particular the pronunciation of Ben Gurion's name as as well other foreign words and names. Especially the R in Gurion which is extremely grating, sounding like someone bringing up phlegm in preparation to spitting. As another person remarked: "The reader of the book is dreadful. He butchers any nonEnglish word, including the name Ben Gurion, by pronouncing it in a language of his own devising, never close to correct. He decided that any Jew, regardless of whether they were male or female, or born in Israel, Poland, Germany, or the USA, talks like Count Dracula. As a large potion of the book is foreign names, places, or quotations, this parody is constantly jarring. He would have done much better by sticking to his American accent."

Bad narration

The attempt to fake an accent failed. It is neither a Polish accent nor a Hebrew accent. The pronunciation of the letter R in Ben Gurion is annoying. In literary Hebrew the R is an R not a GR.

Good profile of a great man

Interesting overview of Israeli history from through the biography of one of its pivotal figures.

The author's pronunciation of "Gurion" sounds like "Gullion," though, which is distracting.