Arik

January 6, 2014
Compiling the life of a man who was a commander, officer, and major general in the Israeli Army in addition to a statesman, party leader, and prime minister in the Israeli government is an intimidating undertaking, particularly when that man, now at age 85, is struggling to stay alive while in the comatose state he's been in since 2006. However, journalist Landau, who previously collaborated with Israeli president Shimon Peres on his memoir, succeeds dutifully in bringing this multi-faceted life to the page. With great research and noticeable interest, Landau depicts Ariel Sharon as a man who is more complex than any one of his multitude of titles and the subsequent criticism he endured as a public servant. Landau's portrait is primarily career-focused examining Sharon's lengthy service in the Israeli Defense Forces during the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War, and his equal tenure as minister of portfolios including defense, foreign affairs, and concluding as prime minister over the disengagement of the Gaza Strip. All the while, Landau depicts Israeli societal welfare through the same wars and political unrestâsometimes caused, sometimes curbed by Sharon. Although Landau's portrait is primarily career-focused, he explores the toll of personal tragedy on Sharon's life including the loss of his first and second wife and the untimely death of his young son, Gur, as well as the societal impact of the many soldiers and civilian casualties. Ariel Sharon has come to represent Israel during its modern changes and he continues to as they both fight on.

Starred review from November 15, 2013
Economist Israel correspondent and former Haaretz editor in chief Landau (Piety and Power: The World of Jewish Fundamentalism, 1992, etc.) offers a thorough, extremely candid description and assessment of the military and political lives of the controversial Sharon, who has been in a vegetative state since a massive stroke in 2006. The author, who has also collaborated with Shimon Peres on his memoir (Battling for Peace, 1995) and on a biography of David Ben-Gurion (2012), displays a deep familiarity with the details and contexts of Sharon's career. Throughout, he prepares us for the stroke in 2006: He calls Sharon "corpulent" in the preface, titles the first chapter "Poor Little Fat Boy" and describes Sharon's considerable appetite and girth. The early chapters are full of military lore. Landau describes battles and strategy in great detail, clearly examining Sharon's roles and unafraid to judge. He mentions, for example, a "heinous act of violence" involving some Bedouin in 1972. The author continues to hold Sharon's feet to the fire right to very end, suggesting things the fallen leader might have accomplished had he been less, well, Sharon-ian. Landau is also adept in the descriptions of the labyrinthine political world of Israel during Sharon's era. We see, as well, his questionable financial dealings (prosecutors took hard looks at his behavior more than once), his gifts as a politician and his failures as a human being. The author does not focus so much on his personal life, though we learn about the accidental death of his son and his wife's succumbing to cancer. We also see the softening, leftish moves he made late in his career--moves that pleased many and infuriated others--especially the decision to close 21 settlements in Gaza in 2005. Splendid reporting, comprehensive research and probing analysis inform this unblinking view of a complicated man and a sanguinary geography.

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January 1, 2014

British/Israeli journalist Landau (former editor in chief, Haaretz; Piety and Power: The World of Jewish Fundamentalism) seeks to elucidate the military, political, and social history of Israel by focusing on the life and impact of Ariel Sharon (b. 1928). Having interviewed a wide range of people who knew Sharon and offer their opinions of his actions, military and political, Landau presents a veritable Who's Who of Israel over the last several decades. He succeeds in giving the reader a truly human portrait of one of Israel's greatest and most controversial leaders. Most fascinating is Landau's analysis of Sharon's transition from being the "father of the settlements" to being the leader most responsible for removing Jewish settlements from Sinai, Gaza, and (before his disabling stroke in 2006) some of the West Bank. The results are a better balanced assessment of Sharon--with quotations from his admirers and detractors--than, for example, Max Blumenthal's Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel or even Ari Shavit's My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, in which Sharon figures significantly. Replete with both footnote explanations of everything from Hebrew terms and acronyms to the past affiliations of political players and endnote source citations, the book also has an appendix containing the full text of significant documents pertaining to the Israel-Palestine conflict since 1967. VERDICT Very much of interest to anyone concerned with the past, present, and future of modern Israel.--Joel Neuberg, Santa Rosa Junior Coll. Lib., CA

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2013
Since his massive stroke in January 2006, Ariel Sharon has remained in a persistent vegetative state. Given the strong passions and controversy he engendered as both a military and political leader, it is perhaps surprising that many Israelis from each side of the political divide look back on his career and personality favorably. Landau has written for both Right and Left newspapers in Israel and is currently the Israel correspondent for the Economist. His thorough, balanced, and scrupulously fair biography makes clear why Sharon was capable of winning respect and admiration, even from his staunch political opponents. In recounting Sharon's youth, Landau reveals Sharon as always prepared to swim against the tide, as he and his family resisted the pressures of nearby kibbutzim to maintain the independence of their farm. As a military leader, he was rash, occasionally brutal, and sometimes defiant of superiors, but at critical moments, especially during the Yom Kippur War, he was decisive and brilliant. As prime minister, despite his earlier promotion of settlement activity, he dismantled settlements and withdrew from Gaza. This is an outstanding, warts-and-all portrait of an arguably great, if not a particularly likable, Israeli leader.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)