Books for High School

by Alex Singer

Alex: Building a Life is a poignant collection of writings and drawings by Alex Singer, an American-born Jew who chose to serve as an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. His life was tragically cut short by a terrorist in Southern Lebanon. The book, compiled by his parents, showcases Alex’s remarkable character through his letters, diaries, and art.

by Judie Oron

Twelve-year-old Wuditu is a member of the Beta-Israel tribe in Ethiopia, an ancient Jewish people that settled in Ethiopia many centuries ago. Cry of the Giraffe tells the incredible journey of a young Jewish girl as she perseveres through numerous obstacles in order to return to the Promised Land.

by Gad Shimron

Using his own personal memoirs, former Mossad agent Gad Shimron has written the exciting true story of the undercover operation to rescue Ethiopian Jews from Sudan.

by Sarah Ansbacher

As a museum tour guide, the author educated visitors about the Jewish Adeni community and their abrupt flight from Yemen. Passage from Aden, is comprised of stories based on the author’s conversations with visitors from around the world who came to tour the Aden Jewish Heritage Museum in Tel Aviv.  

by Gila Almagor
translated by Hillel Schenker

Under the Domim Tree was written by Israeli film actress, Gila Almagor, who drew upon her childhood experiences to create a coming-of-age story centered around orphaned teenagers growing up in an Israeli agricultural youth village. The main protagonist, Aviya, is one of the few teenagers who was born in Israel, while all the others are Holocaust survivors.

by Iddo Netanyahu

Yoni’s Last Battle chronicles the detailed planning and implementation of one of the most incredibly successful airborne rescue missions in history. The mission was carried out by Israel’s elite commando unit and led by Yoni Netanyahu (older brother of the author) to rescue 105 hostages held by German and Arab terrorists in the Entebbe Airport in Uganda.

by Ronald Radosh and Allis Radosh

A dramatic, detailed account of the events leading up to the creation of a Jewish homeland and the true story behind President Harry S. Truman’s controversial decision to recognize the State of Israel in 1948, drawn from Truman’s long-lost diary entries and other previously unused archival materials.

by Leon Uris

This historical novel  about the founding of the modern State of Israel begins with a retelling of the 1947 voyages of a ship bringing Jewish refugees from the Holocaust to Mandatory Palestine, recounting the epic history of Israel’s birth through the eyes of two generations of Jews as they fight to reclaim their homeland. Originally published in 1958, Exodus  became an international bestseller.

by Daniel Gordis

With Israel, public intellectual Daniel Gordis offers us a brief but thorough account of the cultural, economic, and political history of this complex nation, from its beginnings to the present. Accessible, levelheaded, and rigorous, Israel sheds light on Israel’s past, so we can understand its future.

by Anita Shapira

Written by one of Israel’s most notable scholars, this volume provides a breathtaking history of Israel from the origins of the Zionist movement in the late nineteenth century to the present day. Organized chronologically, the volume explores the emergence of Zionism in Europe against the backdrop of relations among Jews, Arabs, and Turks, and the earliest pioneer settlements in Palestine under Ottoman rule.

by Noa Tishby

Tackling popular misconceptions with an abundance of facts, Noa Tishby provides critical context around headline-generating controversies and offers a clear, intimate account of the richly cultured country of Israel.

by Barry Rubin

This comprehensive book provides a well-rounded introduction to Israel—a definitive account of the nation’s past, its often controversial present, and much more. Written by a leading historian of the Middle East, Israel is organized around six major themes: land and people, history, society, politics, economics, and culture.

Edited by Itamar Rabinovich and Jehuda Reinharz

This timely anthology, completely revised and updated from the original edition in 1984, provides convenient access to the most significant documents of the Zionist movement since 1882 and of Israel’s domestic and foreign policy issues between 1948 and 2006. Comprised largely of primary sources from Israeli, Arab, and American records, documents encompass not only political and diplomatic history but economic, cultural, legal and social aspects of the region as well.

by Mitchell Bard

Explore the historical and political forces that created the Jewish state, influence the unrest in the Palestinian territories, shape the peace process, and affect Israel’s security today. Learn about the diversity of the land and the people, the significance of the Law of Return, and Israel’s importance to America’s interests.

by Eric Rozenman

What happened to the post-1945 world of Never Again! ? In Jews Make the Best Demons: Palestine and the Jewish Question, Eric Rozenman examines how we got here, the danger posed not only for the Jewish state and Jews everywhere but also for the United States and the rest of the self-doubting liberal West.

by Murray S. Greenfield and Joseph M. Hochstein

This is the dramatic story of the rescue of Jews from Europe after World War II by North American Jewish volunteers who smashed through the British blockade and brought thousands of refugees to safe haven in Palestine through the illegal Aliyah Bet.

by Sheilagh Herrera

As the world drifts closer to war and the nations shut their gates, a clandestine movement arises to get Jews out of Europe and into Mandatory Palestine before it’s too late.

by Ari Mittleman

In Paths of the Righteous, discover eight individuals who have gone above and beyond for Israel and the Jewish people during a difficult and turbulent period. Largely unheralded and not in the headlines, their stories can inspire us. They each demonstrate unique attributes.

by Ruth Gruber

Learn about the true story of a remarkable woman whose life mirrored the trials and tribulations of the beginning of the modern State of Israel.  Through her eyes, readers will learn about the history of Israel and the experiences of the people within the state.

by Michael B. Oren

Writing with a novelist’s command of narrative and a historian’s grasp of fact and motive, Michael B. Oren reconstructs both the lightning-fast action on the battlefields and the political shocks that electrified the world. A towering work of history and an enthralling human narrative, Six Days of War is the most important book on the Middle East conflict to appear in a generation.

by Matti Friedman

Spies of No Country is about the slippery identities of Israel’s spies, but it’s also about the complicated identity of Israel, a country that presents itself as Western but in fact has more citizens with Middle Eastern roots, just like the spies of this fascinating narrative.

by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion dollar question: How is it that Israel — a country of 7.1 million, only 60 years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources– produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada and the UK?

by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

Widely admired for having the world’s highest density of high-tech start-ups, Israel’s greatest innovation may not be a technology at all, but Israeli society itself. Understanding how a country facing so many challenges can be among the happiest provides surprising insights into how we can confront the crisis of community, human connectedness, and purpose in modern life.

by Herman Wouk

Herman Wouk portrays the young nation of Israel once again pushed to the brink of annihilation — and sets the stage for today’s ongoing struggle for peace. Taking us from the Sinai to Jerusalem, from dust-choking battles to the Entebbe raid, from Camp David to the inner lives of such historical figures as Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and Anwar Sadat, these extraordinary novels have the authenticity and authority of Wouk’s finest fiction — and together strike a resounding chord of hope for all humanity.

by Herman Wouk

This saga spans from 1948 to 1967, the early decades of the state of Israel as it fights for its life, outmatched and surrounded by enemies—the first of the two-part epic that concludes with The Glory. The four heroes, and the women they love, weave a compelling tapestry of individual destinies through a grand recounting of one nation’s struggle against the odds.

by Yehuda Avner

This intimate narrative takes the reader behind the scenes into the chambers of Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzchak Rabin, and Menachem Begin on whose personal staffs the author served.

by Lewis Glinert

A unique history of the Hebrew language from biblical times to the modern Jewish state, The Story of Hebrew takes readers from the opening verses of Genesis—which seemingly describe the creation of Hebrew itself—to the reincarnation of Hebrew as the everyday language of the Jewish state.  A major work of scholarship, The Story of Hebrew is an unforgettable account of what one language has meant to those possessing it.

by Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf

Two prominent Israelis argue that for the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to end with peace, Palestinians must come to terms with the fact that there will be no “right of return.”

by Martin Kramer

In The War on Error, historian and political analyst Martin Kramer presents a series of case studies, some based on pathfinding research and others on provocative analysis, that correct misinformation clouding the public’s understanding of the Middle East. He also offers a forensic exploration of how misinformation arises and becomes “fact.”

Edited by Gil Troy

by Mitchell G. Bard

While most people view the Palestinian conflict as the greatest threat to Israel’s survival, it is in fact only one of the nation’s long-term concerns. Bard paints a realistic picture of the road ahead with a hopeful message: Israel will not only survive, but will endure long into the future.