Includes bibliographical references (p. 711-725) and index.

Palestine on the Eve -- The Beginning of the Conflict: Jews and Arabs in Palestine, 1881-1914 -- World War I, the Balfour Declaration, and the British Mandate -- The Arabs Rebel -- World War II and the First Arab-Israeli War, 1939-49 -- 1949-1956 -- The Six-Day War, 1967 -- The War of Attrition -- The October War, 1973 -- The Israeli-Egyptian Peace, 1977-79 -- The Lebanon War, 1982-85 -- The Intifada -- Peace at Last?.

In this comprehensive and objective account, eminent Israeli historian Benny Morris presents an epic history of Zionist-Arab relations over the past 120 years. Exploding the myths cherished by both sides, Morris finds the roots of the conflict in the deep religious, ethnic, and political differences between the Zionist immigrants and the native Arab population of Palestine.

Tracing the origins of political Zionism back to the pogroms of Russia and the Dreyfus Affair, Morris describes the gradual influx of Jewish settlers into Palestine and the resistance by its Arabs and the surrounding Arab States to the establishment of the State of Israel. He examines the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and each of the subsequent wars and peace efforts, culminating in the peace process initiated by the Rabin and Barak governments and the subsequent return to violence with the second Palestinian Intifada. Studded with illuminating portraits of the major protagonists -- including David Ben-Gurion, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, and Golda Meir -- Righteous Victims provides an authoritative account of the Middle East conflict and the continuing struggle toward peace.