1948

Drawing directly and movingly from Yoram Kaniuk's own experiences as a teenaged soldier in the Palmach unit of the Israeli army during the 1948 War for Independence, this memoir-novel portrays an entire generation of young men from good homes who found themselves immersed in a struggle they did not fully understand. Far from trying to justify his own actions, Kaniuk opts instead for self-criticism, reflecting on the pointlessness of war and the foolishness of a group of inexperienced, white-collar boys turned brothers-in-arms who senselessly imagined that there was some glory in dying so young. The novel offers a singular vision of a crucial moment in modern history and sheds some light on the complicated situation in the Middle East. It is also a brave, shocking, and tragic story about the importance of recognizing the follies of the past.