My Promised Land

The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

By: Ari Shavit

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review and The Economist

Winner of the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

An authoritative and deeply personal narrative history of the State of Israel, by one of the most influential journalists writing about the Middle East today.

Not since Thomas L. Friedman's groundbreaking From Beirut to Jerusalem has a book captured the essence and the beating heart of the Middle East as keenly and dynamically as My Promised Land. Facing unprecedented internal and external pressures, Israel today is at a moment of existential crisis. Ari Shavit draws on interviews, historical documents, private diaries, and letters, as well as his own family's story, illuminating the pivotal moments of the Zionist century to tell a riveting narrative that is larger than the sum of its parts: both personal and national, both deeply human and of profound historical dimension.

We meet Shavit’s great-grandfather, a British Zionist who, in 1897, visited the Holy Land on a Thomas Cook tour and understood that it was the way of the future for his people; the idealist young farmer who bought land from his Arab neighbor in the 1920s to grow the Jaffa oranges that would create Palestine’s booming economy; the visionary youth group leader who, in the 1940s, transformed Masada from the neglected ruins of an extremist sect into a powerful symbol for Zionism; the Palestinian who as a young man in 1948 was driven with his family from his home during the expulsion from Lydda; the immigrant orphans of Europe’s Holocaust, who took on menial work and focused on raising their children to become the leaders of the new state; the pragmatic engineer who was instrumental in developing Israel’s nuclear program in the 1960s, in the only interview he ever gave; the zealous religious Zionists who started the settler movement in the 1970s; the dot-com entrepreneurs and young men and women behind Tel-Aviv’s booming club scene; and today’s architects of Israel’s foreign policy with Iran, whose nuclear threat looms ominously over the tiny country.

As it examines the complexities and contradictions of the Israeli condition, My Promised Land asks difficult but important questions: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? Can Israel survive? Culminating with an analysis of the issues and threats that Israel is currently facing, My Promised Land uses the defining events of the past to shed new light on the present. The result is a landmark portrait of a small, vibrant country living on the edge, whose identity and presence play a crucial role in today’s global political landscape.

Praise for My Promised Land

“This book will sweep you up in its narrative force and not let go of you until it is done. [Shavit’s] accomplishment is so unlikely, so total...that it makes you believe anything is possible, even, God help us, peace in the Middle East.” (Simon Schama, Financial Times)

“[A] must-read book.” (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times)

“Important and powerful...the least tendentious book about Israel I have ever read.” (Leon Wieseltier, The New York Times Book Review)

“Spellbinding...Shavit’s prophetic voice carries lessons that all sides need to hear.” (The Economist)

“One of the most nuanced and challenging books written on Israel in years.” (The Wall Street Journal)

©2013 Random House Audio (P)2013 Ari Shavit

Critic reviews

“Shavit's provocative book avoids the clichés typical of some works about the Middle East, and the audio version benefits from Paul Boehmer's superb presentation.” (AudioFile Magazine)

“The most extraordinary book that I’ve read on [Israel] since Amos Elon’s book called The Israelis, and that was published in the late sixties.” (David Remnick)

“Shavit is a master storyteller. [His] retelling of history jars us out of our familiar retrospections, reminds us (and we do need reminders) that there are historical reasons why Israel is a country on the edge.... Required reading for both the left and the right.” (The Jewish Week)

Wonderful!

What made the experience of listening to My Promised Land the most enjoyable?

The easy way the explanation of the history of Zionism and the State of Israel came into being.

What was one of the most memorable moments of My Promised Land?

How the Jews took a desert and grew roses in it. Yes, there were other people in that land, but nothing was being done there. It was basically a wasteland, but this author doesn't say that. He has tremendous respect for the Palestinians.

What does Paul Boehmer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice. He has so much personal history in just who he is. After all, his Great Grandfather was one of the founders of the Zionist movement so to speak and he has so much empathy for what is going on in Israel. It's such a balanced view.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. It made me feel "Bitter sweet."

Any additional comments?

Probably the best book I've read about Israel and the Palestinian situation. It was an amazing experience.

Love this

“My promised land” is a wonderful history of modern Israel. I highly recommend it, for those interested in this perspective.

Incredible history, brilliant narration

This is a great book for anyone wanting to dive deep into Israeli history and politics. The author does an inspired job of telling the Jewish state's story from it's true, existential beginnings. Not the 1920s or the 1940s, but the late 1800s, and even before that.

Shavit offers a very nuanced argument for Israeli's current malaise, one which provokes more thought than seeks to convince of anything. And such a thing is rare.

This is also a rare book which might be better as an audiobook than in paper format. Paul Boehmer's delivery and accent really bring this work to life.

Riveting read- fabulous accent!

If you could sum up My Promised Land in three words, what would they be?

Unprecedented historical analysis.

What did you like best about this story?

Thorough and compassionate examination of the trials, successes, and tragic mistakes made in the building of the state of Israel.

What about Paul Boehmer’s performance did you like?

Engaging and vibrant accent.

Enlightening and Beautifully Written

The narration took me a moment to get beyond, but I eventually came to enjoy Boehmer's voice and his style. Shavit's book is, as the headline says, enlightening and beautifully written. It gave me a perspective on Israeli history and contemporary issues that was lacking for me before. He takes a very measured, reasoned approach missing in much contemporary political debate. He made Israel come alive for me in a way that I think will make an upcoming Christian pilgrimage I'm taking that much richer.

Wonderful book; hated the narration

Everyone should read this book, it is really excellent and balanced. Read it, whichever side of the argument you are on.

I am getting so sick of narrations with fake foreign accents and overly dramatic reading. I love great performances - for example Gerald Dickens narrating Charles Dickens. Just not guys adopting heavy fake accents. In this case it is really distracting.

good story, but fake accent

Although Mr. Shavit bends over backward to be 'fair' the story is far from fair.
In fact he totally ignores the whole issue of the Ultra-Orthodox world.
Although he covers the Shas party however, he totally ignores the Ultra-Orthodox segment of the Israeli community.
The book is also too long, and could have benefited from a good editor.
Overall, I enjoyed the book.
However, I still cannot understand why the 'reader' has to put on a fake accent? It was really bothersome to listen to his fake accent.

great!

Great Book! Great Performance, this will change your views of Israel, the Middle East, and what it means to be a country...

history of Israel

wonderfully presented width depth and subtlety.. a presentation well worth reading. much detail and perspective.

Well Rounded

It is well rounded with perspectives from different individuals over the past 100 years. I learned a lot from the varied interviews.