I feel mixed after finishing Shavit's condensed, structured history of Israel. On the one hand, he boils down the significant stages of the past 70 years into easily digestible chunks but, on the other hand, leaves us hanging and unsatiated on what he feels might be paths out of the Arab/Jewish quagmire.

The book was a quick, easy and often engrossing read and I did learn a short-hand for trying to understand how Israel got to be the complex, diverse, dynamic country that it is today. But it also left me no less concerned about its future.

I highly recommend it for those who are looking for a summary, nuanced recap of Israeli history since the early pilgrim days.