Table of Contents
Preface 9
Acknowledgments 11
Introduction 13
1 Latch of the Land of Israel: Israelite Conquest of the Promised Land, 1400 BCE 15
2 Times of Trouble: Battles of the Judges, 1200 BCE 27
3 Two Peoples, One Land: Philistines and Israelites, 1000 BCE 39
4 Sennacherib's Crowning Achievement: Assyrians at Lachish, 701 BCE 51
5 Pushed Too Far: The Maccabean War, 175 BCE 61
6 Ivdaea Capta: The Rage of Rome, 67 CE 79
7 The Koran, The Tribute, Or The Sword!: Islam's Conquest of the Middle East, 634 CE 93
8 Impaled at the Horns of Hattin: Twilight for the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1187 105
9 Wa Islamah! Wa Islamah!: Mamluks Stop the Mongol Horde, 1260 119
10 Outgunned: Mamluk Cavalry Scorn Ottoman Firearms, 1516 129
11 Plagued by Delays, and Delayed by Plague: Napoleon's Holy Land Campaign, 1799 145
12 By Way of Deception: World War I in Palestine, 1917-18 157
13 Israel's "Maginot Line": 1948 War of Independence 179
14 Attacked, Captured and Abandoned: 1956 Sinai Campaign 191
15 How the Hell Did Anyone Get Up There?: 1967 Six Day War 207
16 Sacrificial Stand in the Golan Heights: 1973 Yom Kippur War 221
17 Turkey Shoot Over the Bekaa Valley: 1982 Lebanon War 233
Epilogue 245
Bibliography 253
Index 273