Reading this book is a great intelectual adventure. There are a lot of information and the author has a very clear and envolving writing, always creating expectative over what's coming next. The author also mixes narrative with a lot of opinions and analysis about the facts. There are, as well, many quottings from other works about Jobotinsky, along with several transcriptions of classified official documents that shed light into controversial facts. The author is not afraid of polemics and gives new perspectives over matters treated as tabu, like Ben Gurion, Weizman, The Zionist Organization and the Histadrut. Much enfasis is given to Jabotinsky's unstopabble fight for the jewish rights in palestine and abroad, as well as his unfearing steadfastness against anyone who denied the goal of creating a jewish state. The book will give a complete understanding of the Revisionist movement, the British Rule in Israel, the internal Zionist Organization politics and its blunders, the arab behavior, among others. By reading this book you will also be able to better understand contemporary israeli politics and the relationship with the arab countries. The book, although very pleasant, takes quite a bit to be read, but it is a must for anyone who wants to know one of the greatest zionist and jewish leaders ever and get into the politics of the pre-state period.

This book is a real eye opener. It completly changed my perspective on the history of the Middle East and how the British, who so often have come accross as the "white knight" was in fact the dirty thief.

The book is a monster in size and in the amount of information it presents. It documented and footnoted to a degree that one would expect from a work of this nature.

I highly suggest it to anyone who wants to find out about the history of modern Israel and how the wolrd powers did what they do best, exploit. I truly learned much!

Zeev (meaning wolf, in hebrew) Jabotinsky was one of the greatest leaders ever, and the greatest liberal Zionist leader. His works can not be denied. Because of his many deeds, he was admired by many - and hated by the rest. And he is the subject of this book, like many other books and articles. But this one is special - the auther spent 7 years of his life reserching and writing it, and those seven years have beared fruit. The writing is of a very high quality, and the contence is extensive. Itws like no other book about Jabotinsky I know. After reading, you will enrich not only your mind - but also your spirit, by knowing this great man. Highly recomended, for all people - Zionists, students, and anyone seeking pure knolage and feeding.

Samuel Katz provides an excellent service in describing, truthfully, how the Arab/Palestinian-Israeli conflict really began and just as importantly, why it continues.

It is so refreshing to be provided with an in-depth analysis of the bitter hostilities and a factual account that will destroy and tread underfoot the propaganda, the myths, distortions, fabrications and outright lies that have served to deceive the public at large of what the situation in the Middle East is really all about.

The descriptive and relevant title which includes 'Fact & Fantasy' can never be more appropriate than when dealing with an issue such as this, where the erosion of truth has occurred at a monumental rate in recent years, especially since the onset of the two 'Palestinian intifadas'in 1987.

I possess the second edition of this book with a foreword in 1977 by then Menachem Begin, the Prime Minister of Israel. He summarises his opinions of this book by stating "...we shall continue to use truth as a main weapon. I hope that this book will play an even larger part in spreading the truth than it has done in the past."

The British Sunday Times newspaper is also quoted in the introduction from an issue in 1972, "...On some occasions, deliberate lies have been devised to bury a truth that powerful people wanted hidden...."

I cannot but only agree with Menachem Begin's every word 'spoken' by the Sunday Times. When matters such as these come to the surface, people with integrity will want to know why this deceit exists, the agendas of those who would perpetrate these policies and above all the real truth behind the lies. This book serves that purpose !

We see through Katz's writings the hypocritical, biased policies of my own British Government in the region, fuelled by self interest and their own agenda in the region.

Palestinian terrorism, refugees and a detailed history through the decisive events of 1948, 1967 and 1973 are all covered in this excellent book which has thankfully now been re-released. Samuel Katz does not rest there, but also delves into the history of the region and the Jewish presence in Palestine.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Suffice to say, please get yourself a copy. (If you are a politician, get two and give one to a colleague!)

Kindest regards & thanks for listening.

It's a blessing that this volume has been reissued.

Like the work of Arieh Avneri, Howard Sachar, Connor Cruise O'Brien, Efraim Karsh and Martin Kramer, Battleground is a magnificent piece of reporting on the history of the Middle East conflict. But in the 29 years since it was originally published, that past has grown ever more faded in public and journalistic memory.

In general, newspapers and textbooks now completely avoid the history, without explanation blaming Israel for the plight of Arab refugees that Arab nations have exploited in a 54-year war against the Jewish state. Katz clearly here delineates the role of refugees in that war. Katz also reports this important background: In 1922 the League of Nations adopted by international vote a plan to establish a Jewish National Home in Palestine, which then included all of current day Israel and Transjordan.

This book details that history. Katz shows that, within years after the Paris Peace meeting and League of Nations accorded all of Palestine to the Jewish people, Britain unilaterally and illegally granted more than 80% of original Palestine to the Arabs, creating current day Jordan.

Katz elucidates many critical parts of the historical puzzle. But the centerpiece is that in 1919, less than two years after the Balfour Declaration, Emir Faisal of Syria and Iraq--then the only recognized Arab leader in the world--declared the plan for a Jewish national homeland in all of Palestine as "moderate and proper." He even signed a treaty with Jewish leaders to accept and endorse the plan.

In short, Katz shows here that the 1922 League of Nations vote to adopt the plan did not (as conventional wisdom now wrongly supposes) unilaterally impose a decision on the Arab peoples of the Middle East without their input. In fact, the League of Nations acted directly in response to the 1919 Arab treaty with Jewish leaders.

King Faisal's approval of plans for a National Home for the Jews was no less significant because it, like the League Mandate, encompassed all of current day Israel and Jordan. In 1919, King Faisal saw the importance of recognizing the rights of the Jewish people to their homeland.

The book also shows that the Jewish people did not--as common misconception holds--steal land in Israel. On the contrary, beginning in the 1870s and 1880s, the Jewish Agency and many private groups and people purchased land (usually swamps and desert) from private absentee Arab landowners, often at wildly inflated prices. Katz documents this plainly.

Katz also establishes the number of Arab refugees in 1948 at 480,000, after seven Arab nations attacked the nascent Jewish state with the avowed intention to destroy it. Arab leaders at the United Nations admitted the relatively low number of Arab refugees from that war at the time. But gradually, over the years, he demonstrates that the number has been inflated--a point that, he reports, even the United Nations admits.

Katz also rightly recognizes the 850,000 Jewish refugees from 22 Arab and Muslim lands between 1940 and 1978, expelled with nothing but the shirts on their backs. (See also Malka Hillel Shulewitz and Itamar Levin and Rachel Neiman in The Forgotten Millions and Locked Doors.) Comparable inflation would raise the number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands to more than 3 million.

Finally, Katz explains the central problem plaguing Israeli-Arab relations since long before Israel was founded in 1948. As he notes, most Arab nations--from which he shows most "Palestinians" immigrated--have never recognized even the considerably reduced version of the Jewish state that became Israel in 1948. They would prefer a permanent state of war than to admit the Jewish people's right to self-determination, or to a state governing places in which tens of thousands of Jews have resided from a time since the Romans sacked the second Temple in 70 A.D.

Read this book to learn the region's real history. Alyssa A. Lappen

Many books have been written about the history of israel and the conflict in the Middle East. Everyone of those authors had an agenda, and Samuel Katz has one, too. His, seems to be: "I'll give you the key to research this issue for yourself, to find out the truth and to be amazed at how distorted the common understainding of this (Israel-Arab) conflict, really is."

In fact, you will find that Mr. Katz provides aboundant links to documents, interviews, witnesses and other articles. The great majority of the evidence Mr. Katz is using, is of Arab provenience. Most importantly, he gives you the means, through detailed documenting of the sources, to check them out for yourself. This is very important, because this conflict's facts have been grossly and tendentiously manipulated. At first, of course, the reader might experience some strange mixture of disbelief and anxiety. This should not last too long, though, depending on your personal education and experience. For me, it was quite acceptable, knowing how the events that lead to the annexion of the Finnish Karelia by Russia, were fabricated, and accepted by the UN because, well, Finland was small and Russia so big and powerful.

History is, perhaps, written by the more powerful but even the mightiest of the powers can't completely erase all traces of truth. This book talks about the conflict in Palestine by giving the reader the opportunity to find those traces and to be the judge. It's also a very easy to read, enjoyable and immersive reading. Of course, checking the sources is a more laboriious but also more rewarding task which I personally urge every reader to undertake, to whatever extent he/she might be comfortable with. A must-have for everybody who wants to be educated on an important aspect of modern history, both scholar and layman.

My wife loves this book, and that is why I purchased it I went ahead and bought a used book. I thought that I was going to receive the most updated version, as was shown in the picture, when I submitted my order. To my surprise I received a used version that was published in 1995.

This book is great, especially for first time parents. It has everything you could ever need to know about your baby or child in an easy to follow dictionary format. I have used it several times to look up information.

Short and sweet, Samuel Katz is the man when it comes to finding information on special forces, especially the elite Israeli units. Alongside the British SAS, the Israeli special forces are the busiest in the world and in this book you get a clear, concise view of all of the major units that are out there. Simply put, this information is nowhere else. All of his books are worth tracking down and ordering, if not here, go to abebooks.com or bibliofind.com. It's money well spent.

For some time I have been interested in Israeli special Forces, but appropriate information were difficult to come by. This book offers adequate professional information on the subject, that, combined with great pictures and writter's appealing stile of writting, form an unique book. I found this book by accident in a bookstore, but if I knew about it sooner, I would certainly order it before.

LAPD is one of the greatest Motorbooks I ever read (and I read and have a lot of Motorbooks).

Unlike some Motorbooks, LAPD is a reader...not something you can read overnight. It took me a few days because it's pretty heavy on text...and a bit depressing too to see such rampant crime in a city.

Samuel Katz is truly a professional author and the way he describes information in this book is outstanding...every sentence is information, almost every page a case story.

Sam Katz also wrote "LAPD SWAT" in a 1997 Popular Mechanics issue and a Concord "Special Operations Journal #1" but his Motorbooks expands and covers many facets of LAPD. This Motorbooks is/ has the full story. Popular Mechanic's SWAT article doesn't.

Reading the book, you get a sense of how large and apparently dangerous LA really is. The book covers all the above sections but unlike some Motorbooks, Sam Katz doesn't just tell you what the cops do, but how, why, when, where, and for what reason. It's similar to a journal of where he went with whom...just like the "COPS" TV show from start to arrest. Sam keeps his opinions to a minimum and let's the cops do the talking which is refreshing since Sam is a visitor to the city of LA and LAPD.

Each section gets it's fair shake of information and presentation. Sam isn't biased. He doesn't spotlight SWAT and downplay K-9 for instance. Best of all, the photos are mainly action and go with the case stories Sam went along for the ride. Like Concord's book you'll see actual SWAT busts with Sam snapping the camera, K-9 posing for Sam, Sam's in the helicopter shooting photos, etc. The photos are not something pulled from a file and captioned "LAPD." There are some photos of weapons and vehicles but most is about the people and the cases. This is not a "LAPD Equipment and Vehicle" reference book but more of a "what happened crime-wise this 1997 week in LA?" journal.

Also, Sam's been many places with LAPD and the book takes you along. From the wealthy "too loud" parties in Hollywood to the dangers of Nickerson Gardens Projects in 77th Area. From Venice beach with its problems to the skies over LA tracking a carjacker.

All true battle stories about real cops and their suspects. The dialogue isn't filtered...only the swear words are bleeped out. The cops talk and so do the suspects...Sam writes their quotes all down in the book, preserving it for history and telling you the reader what the cops and suspects think.

A must read about the best cops in a dangerous city. One of the best Motorbooks I have. Worth every penny in text and photos.

Finally--a book that tells the true story of the brave men and women who protect and serve the citizens of Los Angeles. The author has, through top-flight original photographs and a no-holds-barred narration, taken us on a tour of the dangers and excitement of law enforcement in Los Angeles. This books is a must read.

A very comprehensive history of the IDF's Navy SEAL equivalent. I especially like the way Katz tries to biograph the lives of two of Flotilla 13 and IDF/Navy commnders, Ze'ev Almog and Ami Ayalon, both of whom have gone on to bigger things.

The Shayetot (naval recon. commandos) are amazing. They are the best naval special force operators in the world. The Navy Seals and the SBS never come close to the Shayetot's optempo and DAILY combat experiences. Sure, it was extremely hurt to remember the debacle of the batmen's ambush in South Lebanon in 1997. But the debacle had to do with the faculty and compromised intelligences. Otherwise, the Israeli commandos, Mossad and the IAF are the biggest nightmare to the Hizbollah terrorists. The terrorists should better watch their back, because one would never know when they would be permanently custodied by the biblical justice.

If your looking for a book that gives you lots of information about the NYPD Emergency Service Unit, then this is the book for you. I am a fan of the NYPD and have been looking for a book like this. If your looking for more information you should look into "Anytime, Anywhere." Thank you very much Mr. Katz for this book. I wish you the best of luck with all of your projects.

NYPD is a fascinating, dramatic, high-speed ride-along with some of the best cops in the US. Katz must have spent a lot of time with the ESU team because he fills this book with the kind of personal information and adrenalin you'd get on the street, dealing with "perps." For my money, this book beats anything Ann Rule ever wrote -- much more exciting and intimate, rather than a dry narrative. If you like stories about real cops and real robbers, this one's for you.

Hans Halberstadt

A great insight into one of the world's most capable, and deadly fighting force. The book takes you from Israel's Special forces infancy, to today's complex, and secretive world of Isarel's most elite units. It's a must read for anyone interested in the military, Israel, terrorism, espionage, or real-life action.

The book involves the 7th armored brigade in all Arab Israeli wars. This book is a must read.

As with other readers here I had never heard of the Diplomatic Security Service. My assumption was that it was going to be another militarized "me too" anti terrorist group looking to reinvent the wheel by doing jobs that groups like Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 are supposed to handle. I also assumed that the Secret Service was the agency responsible for protecting all diplomats (not just the President).

My assumptions were largely -- and I must say somewhat refreshingly -- proven wrong. Yes, the DSS has a tactical side and even a sub group within it to handle the more dangerous situations but basically the DSS does the heavy lifting when it comes to protecting American diplomats and embassies abroad from terrorism and other crime. This is certainly a job that has become much more dangerous in the last 10 or 15 years.

While the book is well written and tells the story of some very dedicated and admirable people I found it a bit slow in places. It almost has to be I guess since most of what these folks do is tiring, monotonous and oftentimes thankless work. Much of the credit for what they do gets shamelessly stolen by the other, more prominent (and spotlight hungry) agencies. I found this to be a sad commentary on the way government works.

If you're looking for a book about the hunt for the bastards who brought down the WTC in NY on 9-11 then you may be disappointed. This book deals with the work that led up to that event including the first terrorist bombing at the WTC in 1993.

The thing I was most struck by was just how clearly the terrorists had been telegraphing their intentions and how arrogantly blind our government was to what the DSS (and others) were practically screaming at them even though terrorist attacks kept getting worse and people kept dying.

This book will give you a look into what takes to make all of those diplomatic visits we see on the news happen without incident and how the rest of the world views the US. It reassuring to know that there are groups like the DSS out there but it is also frightening to learn of just how incompetent and out of touch our government can be.

The Diplomatic Security Service is most probably one of the newest federal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
So almost nobody know nothing about it.
But Mr. Katz do know these guys. Almost an insider look.
In a way the book is a companion to the documentary Badges without borders. Explain in great detail their work fighting terrorism and have a brief explanation about their role protecting U.S: diplomats all around the world and foreign ambassadors and representatives in U.S. soil. These are the guys behind Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The book is well written and in no way is boring. Pay the money without doubt.

What makes this book so unique is the fact that it was a work in progress long before 9-11. It appears as if the author had been writing the story of the one federal law enforcement agency to take al-Qaeda seriously for years before the horrific attacks of September 11. The book is not a finger-pointing I told you so look at 9-11, but rather a beautifully-constructed profile of the Diplomatic Security Service and its global war against terrorists. The DSS are heroes--and it is about time people learned about what they did. I hope that the author is working on a sequel. I'll bet, after reading this book, that DSS, will be in the forefront of bringing bin Laden and his lieutenants to justice.