From the prelude of the October 1973 Middle East war through the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in March 1979, Kenneth W. Stein grippingly traces American involvement in the Arab-Israeli negotiations. He provides an extraordinary range of first-hand accounts, recollections and anecdotes from over eighty bureaucrats, diplomats and military leaders who participated in Arab-Israeli peace talks in the 1970's and since.

Since the official public record remains unavailable for reasons of national security, these interviews provide unequaled insight into the internal divisions, political intrigue and untold stories of the peace process. Charting the complex and often contradictory goals of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, the US and the USSR, Stein chronicles the evolution of these negotiations and analyzes the key roles of Sadat, Kissinger, Carter, and Begin. An introduction and epilogue place this period in context of Arab-Israeli history since 1948 and the current status of the peace process.

For reasons of national security, official public records surrounding Americas involvement in the Arab-Israeli negotiations remain unavailable.Heroic Diplomacy provides an unequalled insight into the internal divisions and untold stories of the peace process. Covering an extraordinary range of first-hand accounts from over eighty bureaucrats, diplomats and military leaders who participated in Arab-Israeli peace talks from 1973 to 1978 the book charts the complex and often contradictory goals of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the US and the USSR.

The control of land remains the crucial issue in the Arab-Israel conflict. Kenneth Stein investigates in detail and without polemics how and why Jews acquired land from Arabs in Palestine during the British Mandate, and he reaches conclusions that are challenging and suprising.
Stein contends that Zionists were able to purchase the core of a national territory in Palestine during this period for three reasons: they had the single-mindedness of purpose, as well as the capital, to buy the land; the Arabs, economically impoverished, politically fragmented, and socially atomized, were willing to sell the land; and the British were largely ineffective in regulating land sales and protecting Arab tenants.
Neither Arab opposition to land sales nor British attempts to regulate them actually limited land acquisition. There were always more Arab offers to sell land than there were Zionist funds. In fact, many sales were made by Arab politicians who publicly opposed Zionism and even led agitation against land acquisition by Jews. Zionists furthered their own ambitions by skillfully using their understanding of the bureaucracy to write laws and to influence key administrative appointments. Further, they knew how to take advantage of social and economic cleavages within Arab society.
Based primarily on archival research, "The Land Question in Palestine, 1917-1939" offers an unusually balanced analysis of the social and political history of land sales in Palestine during this critical period. It provides exceptional and essential insight into one of the most troubling conflicts in today's world.