Major Farran's Hat: Murder, Scandal and Britain's War Against Jewish Terrorism, 1945-1948 - Rilegato
In May 1947 Alexander Rubowitz, a Jewish teenager, was mysteriously abducted in Jerusalem. He was never seen again. Rubowitz was active in a Zionist underground group fighting British rule in Palestine. Witnesses said he was seized by British policemen. A grey felt hat found at the scene was traced to Major Roy Farran, a highly decorated ex-SAS officer leading a covert counter-terrorist squad. As evidence of murder grew Farran fled to Syria. He was persuaded to return and was acquitted after a sensational court martial. He came home to a hero's welcome. But the Zionist underground swore vengeance. It had already penetrated British homeland security and now it sent its top man after Farran. "Major Farran's Hat" explores the reasons why Britain lost Palestine, why its counter-insurgency strategy collided with its diplomacy, and why the tactics of the security forces were ill-judged, poorly executed, and futile. Setting Farran's remarkable story in the context of the first modern campaign of international terrorism, it draws on recently declassified files of the Security Services to reveal the full extent and ambition of Jewish terrorist attacks on Britain in the late 1940s. Part Boys' Own adventure, part narrative history, "Major Farran's Hat" solves a murder mystery and exposes a shady episode in the final years of the British empire. This story of violence, cover ups and expediency throws light on Britain's legacy in the Middle East, with remarkable echoes of today's War on Terror.
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Recensione:
David Cesarani ... has now combined the excitement of a thriller with the use of hitherto unexamined sources ... Cesarani's meticulous investigation of 'counter-gang' and 'pseudo-gang' techniques leads to this great conclusion: Wherever the form was employed it resulted in illegality, extra-judicial execution (that is to say murder) and scandal. The toxic legacy of the special squads contaminated British colonial policy for decades. --Jonathan Mirsky, Spectator
In 200 or so tightly written and commendably referenced pages Professor David Cesarani tells the tragic story of Rubowitz and the equally tragic story of Farran, against the dreadful backcloth of the last, bloody years of the Palestine Mandate. --Jewish Chronicle
... an expose of the last days of the British mandate in Palestine and the tension between the civil and military authorities in the struggle against various strands of the Zionist movement ... the great triumph of this book is in exposing what happens when those in the world of intelligence work outside the law ... MAJOR FARRAN'S HAT is a piece of contemporary history with bite and verve. --Tony Kushner, Times High Education
L'autore:
David Cesarani is Research Professor in History at Royal Holloway, University of London. His publications include Justice Delayed: How Britain Became a Refuge for Nazi War Criminals, Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind and, most recently, Eichmann: His Life and Crimes, which won the 2006 US National Jewish Book Award for History. He has written and edited several books exploring the relationship between Britain, British Jews, and Zionism including The 'Jewish Chronicle' and Anglo-Jewry and The Making of Modern Anglo-Jewry.
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- EditoreHeinemann
- Data di pubblicazione2009
- ISBN 10 0434018449
- ISBN 13 9780434018444
- RilegaturaCopertina rigida
- Numero di pagine400
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