The Hebrew Republic can and should be read by two different publics. Lay leaders will find a magisterial, insightful, panoramic look at Israel's history and politics embedded in the broader context of modern Jewish history and the dominant global trends of the time. Specialists will find a series of original and innovative essays on some of the most significant aspects of Israeli history and life. A must read; a rewarding read. -- Itamar Rabinovich, President of The Israel Institute, Washington and Tel Aviv Colin Shindler is a celebrated historian of the rise of Zionism and Israel; an author of important books on the Israeli Right; and a fearless moral, intellectual voice against oppression and hypocrisy. This collection of his reviews and essays is a veritable treasure trove of information and critical observations ranging over the movements, personalities and challenges of Jewish and Israeli history of the past 100 years. It is a delight to read. -- Jeremy Rosen, Chairman of the Faculty of Comparative Religion, Wilrijk; Rabbi of the Persian Center, Manhattan. With an impressive command of his terrain and in lucid prose devoid of academic jargon, Colin Shindler guides the reader along the road from early Zionist idealism to contemporary Machiavellian politics. En route, he illuminates not only the highway of history, but also numerous little-known by-ways. Journeying with him, the reader encounters a wide variety of individuals, pivotal moments, political movements and counter-movements which coalesce into a panorama of political theory and practice over the past two centuries. -- Alice Shalvi, professor emerita of English Literature, Hebrew University of Jerusalem The subtitle "Israel's Return to History" represents a coherent collection of in-depth articles - at times chronological and at times focusing on crucial issues. Studying Modern Israel from inside and outside, Shindler explains its unfolding centrality for the dispersed Jewish people. This book is not only researching but also interprets the contending analyses of contradictions between the success of a dynamic state and its growing political isolation. -- Edward Kaufman, University of Maryland and Haifa University Colin Shindler has produced a rich compendium of insights into Israel's genesis, its early struggles and controversies, and its current challenges. He draws not just on his huge store of knowledge, but on an ability to convey the complexities of Israel and the Middle East, and of the wider political debate they generate, with depth and subtlety. -- Edward Temko, former editor of the Jewish Chronicle