yes I recall the scenes of Jews desperate to make a home in the new state of Israel the zionists determined to create.
I read Moshe Dayan's history of the partition and the establishment of zionist communes etc and the battles that were fought. then I read on Golda Meir and later development of Israel. I took much of this as factual until I slowly became aware of the dynamic between Israel and Palestine. During this time I read a lot of smaller pieces from a lot of different sources.... Next was an excellent book by a British historian travelling from Jerusalem to Macedonia via Turkey following the step of St Paul. he explored hundreds of tiny hamlets as well as cities along the way, focusing predominantly on christian monasteries. he described the historical relationships between the different religions, including obscure Christian villages which have unique take on Christian beliefs including gnostic knowledge and orthodox leaders in major cities.
these were my more formative readings but a lot more besides. you might say I became obsessed with the region for a decade or two.
as I've said a few times, I'm an eclectic. the histories of the greater region of eastern mediterranean through to Persia/Iran/Iraq is fascinating. I don't side with anyone as all parties are heavily at fault in the collective analysis; but my opinion is only mine and I don't expect any to agree.
