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Israeli Journalist Tom Segev to Give Talk on David Ben-Gurion
The Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies (IHGMS) will host “David Ben-Gurion and the First Israelis” on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 5 p.m.
Tom Segev, an Israeli historian and journalist, will present his new book “A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion.”
As the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion long ago secured his reputation as a leading figure of the twentieth century. In his biography, Segev uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around Ben-Gurion.
The result is the portrait of a man who sought a state “at any cost”—at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev’s Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor—a twentieth-century leader whose iron will and complex temperament left a contentious legacy that we still reckon with today.
Segev’s other works include “The Seventh Million;” “1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East;” “Simon Wiesenthal;” and “One Palestine, Complete,” which was named one of the 10 best books of 2000 by “The New York Times.”
The event will be hosted at the IHGMS building at 758 N Pleasant St., Amherst.