NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War, by Haggai Segal

Haggai Segal, the author of "How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War", is a member of the great Segal family of which he writes. He is the grandson of Yosef Segal, the initial focus of the book, and son of Shlomo Segal, and nephew of Yedidia Segal - the ultimate focus of the book. The Segal family is one of the families known as "the fighting families" from the time of the Saison - the time, largely pre-State,when the Hagana chased down and harassed, or worse, members of the Irgun and other underground movements.

This book, with its intriguing title, is a fascinating tale of the formation of the State of Israel and the early days of the State.

To be honest, I have had this book, and have been reading it, for a while. Some books are so good that you cannot put them down - you read it non-stop until you are finished within a couple of days. Other books are so good, and so full of information, that you take your time reading them. This book is the latter. How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War is fascinating book and tells a compelling story, but it is not a book I could read quickly. I read it in bits, absorbing the flavor, absorbing the history, absorbing the story, absorbing the emotion.

How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War is many things. It is the story of the early days of Haifa, specifically the Ahuza neighborhood, and how Yosef Segal, among others, founded the new neighborhood and survived there surrounded by sometimes hostile Arabs. It is the story of a visionary with religious beliefs and excitement, and optimism, about the State and its place in the redemption of the Nation of Israel, and how he educated a generation of children mixing his approach to religion and the State with secular education. It is the story of the Hagana and the Irgun, their fighting, both each other and against the British. It is the story of the formation of the State. It is the story of the abduction and murder of Yedidya Segal, the cover-up and the search for information. It is the story of David Ben Gurion, and many other Hagana and Israeli leaders, as well as that of Menachem Begin and other Irgun and Israeli leaders. It is the story of the Altalena. It is the story of a family shattered by the loss of its favorite son, while retaining optimism and refusing to allow revenge in their name and thereby preventing a civil war. It is the story of the search for information, even at some point a couple of generations old, when people are refusing to talk.

"Preventing a civil war" might sound like an exaggeration, but it probably is not. As you will see in the book, the times were so tense, the conflict so heated, the demand for revenge on each side for actions against it, and the enormity of the Yedidya Segal affair, and without the intervention and insistence of Grandma Segal, civil war is the direction it was really heading.

You should read How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War - to learn about the perspective offered on the early days of the State and its formation, to learn more about the Hagana and Irgun, and especially to learn about the compelling Segal family and their central role in the history of that time.



buy How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War on Amazon.com

buy How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War on Gefen Publishing



NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.