A State at Any Cost
The Life of David Ben-Gurion
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $38.97
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Paul Boehmer
-
Written by:
-
Tom Segev
-
Haim Watzman - translator
About this listen
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 TantorYou may also enjoy...
-
The Prime Ministers
- An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership
- Written by: Yehuda Avner
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Prime Ministers is the first and only insider account of Israeli politics from the founding of the Jewish State to the near-present day. It reveals stunning details of life-and-death decision-making, top-secret military operations and high level peace negotiations. The Prime Ministers brings listeners into the orbits of world figures, including Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
-
-
Amazing
- By Anonymous User on 2022-08-28
Written by: Yehuda Avner
-
Bibi
- My Story
- Written by: Benjamin Netanyahu
- Narrated by: David Marantz, Benjamin Netanyahu
- Length: 25 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s New York Times bestselling autobiography, the prime minister of Israel tells the story of his family, his path to leadership, and his unceasing commitment to defending his country and securing its future. Through a host of vivid anecdotes, he narrates his own evolution from soldier to statesman, while providing a unique perspective on leadership, the fraught geopolitics of the Middle East, and his successful efforts to liberate Israel’s economy, which helped turn it into a global powerhouse of technological innovation.
-
-
As an Iranian Canadian, i thoroughly enjoyed it
- By Hammer on 2023-01-14
Written by: Benjamin Netanyahu
-
The Genius of Israel
- The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World
- Written by: Dan Senor, Saul Singer
- Narrated by: Dan Senor
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do Israelis have among the world’s highest life expectancies and lowest rates of “deaths of despair” from suicide and substance abuse? Why is Israel’s population young and growing while all other wealthy democracies are aging and shrinking? How can it be that Israel, according to a United Nations ranking, is the fourth happiest nation in the world? Why do Israelis tend to look to the future with hope, optimism, and purpose while the rest of the West struggles with an epidemic of loneliness, teen depression, and social decline?
-
-
Israel-The Land Of the Innovative and Resilient.
- By Jake L.S. on 2024-01-06
Written by: Dan Senor, and others
-
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
- A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017
- Written by: Rashid Khalidi
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age.
-
-
Great book
- By Julia M. on 2020-07-10
Written by: Rashid Khalidi
-
The Great Game
- The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
- Written by: Peter Hopkirk
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road - both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to 20 miles at some points.
-
-
Excellent Eastern history!!
- By Robert on 2024-10-18
Written by: Peter Hopkirk
-
Israel
- A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth
- Written by: Noa Tishby
- Narrated by: Noa Tishby
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby.
-
-
Entertaining but a little dismissive of Palestinian arguments
- By Jackson D. on 2022-05-14
Written by: Noa Tishby
-
The Prime Ministers
- An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership
- Written by: Yehuda Avner
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Prime Ministers is the first and only insider account of Israeli politics from the founding of the Jewish State to the near-present day. It reveals stunning details of life-and-death decision-making, top-secret military operations and high level peace negotiations. The Prime Ministers brings listeners into the orbits of world figures, including Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
-
-
Amazing
- By Anonymous User on 2022-08-28
Written by: Yehuda Avner
-
Bibi
- My Story
- Written by: Benjamin Netanyahu
- Narrated by: David Marantz, Benjamin Netanyahu
- Length: 25 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s New York Times bestselling autobiography, the prime minister of Israel tells the story of his family, his path to leadership, and his unceasing commitment to defending his country and securing its future. Through a host of vivid anecdotes, he narrates his own evolution from soldier to statesman, while providing a unique perspective on leadership, the fraught geopolitics of the Middle East, and his successful efforts to liberate Israel’s economy, which helped turn it into a global powerhouse of technological innovation.
-
-
As an Iranian Canadian, i thoroughly enjoyed it
- By Hammer on 2023-01-14
Written by: Benjamin Netanyahu
-
The Genius of Israel
- The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World
- Written by: Dan Senor, Saul Singer
- Narrated by: Dan Senor
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do Israelis have among the world’s highest life expectancies and lowest rates of “deaths of despair” from suicide and substance abuse? Why is Israel’s population young and growing while all other wealthy democracies are aging and shrinking? How can it be that Israel, according to a United Nations ranking, is the fourth happiest nation in the world? Why do Israelis tend to look to the future with hope, optimism, and purpose while the rest of the West struggles with an epidemic of loneliness, teen depression, and social decline?
-
-
Israel-The Land Of the Innovative and Resilient.
- By Jake L.S. on 2024-01-06
Written by: Dan Senor, and others
-
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
- A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017
- Written by: Rashid Khalidi
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age.
-
-
Great book
- By Julia M. on 2020-07-10
Written by: Rashid Khalidi
-
The Great Game
- The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
- Written by: Peter Hopkirk
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road - both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to 20 miles at some points.
-
-
Excellent Eastern history!!
- By Robert on 2024-10-18
Written by: Peter Hopkirk
-
Israel
- A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth
- Written by: Noa Tishby
- Narrated by: Noa Tishby
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby.
-
-
Entertaining but a little dismissive of Palestinian arguments
- By Jackson D. on 2022-05-14
Written by: Noa Tishby