''The Revolt'' ( he, המרד), also published as ''Revolt'', ''The Revolt: Inside Story of the Irgun'' and ''The Revolt: the Dramatic Inside Story of the Irgun'', is a book about the militant

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

organization Irgun Zvai Leumi, by one of its principal leaders, Menachem Begin. In Israel, the organization is commonly called Etzel, based on its Hebrew acronym.

History

The book traces the development of the Irgun from its early days in the 1930s, through its years of violent struggle in the Palestine Mandate against both British rule (the "revolt" of the title) and

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

opposition, to the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The book is also part autobiographical, tracing Begin's own political development. Originally published in Hebrew in 1951, an English translation by Samuel Katz was published that same year by W. H. Allen in the UK and Henry Schuman in the US. The book has gone through many editions and reprints, with the latest edition published in 2002. The political scientist

John Bowyer Bell J. Bowyer Bell (November 15, 1931 – August 23, 2003) was an American historian, artist and art critic. He was best known as a terrorism expert. Background and early life Bell was born into an Episcopalian family in 1931 in New York City. T ...

, who studied both the Irgun and the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

(IRA), recalled that many of the IRA men whom he interviewed in the 1960s had read ''The Revolt'' and admired it as a manual of guerrilla warfare. It was also studied by

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

Nelson Mandela after he went underground in 1960, and credited it as being among the books he used a guide in planning the ANC's guerrilla campaign against the apartheid government of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revolt 1951 non-fiction books Irgun History books about Zionism Books about Israel Books about Mandatory Palestine Menachem Begin