Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation Series, 4 History of International Relations Library, 22 'Two sides of the coin: Independence and Nakba 1948,' written by two eminent historians, Adel Manna and Motti Golani, takes the reader on a journey to the War of 1948, by offering contemporary multi-perspective narratives on the war, accompanied by maps that highlight historical events during that time. The Palestinian- Israeli conflict is understood as a conflict over territory, while simultaneously it is a conflict over historical narratives. One of the most important questions asked in this conflict over narrative is: what happened in 1948? Golani and Manna have treated with delicacy and depth this highly complex and divisive question, their approach contributes significantly to a mutual understanding between Israelis and Palestinians on their common history. "Professor Motti Golani and Dr. Adel Manna have made a courageous attempt to present the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict in one common narrative. The result is a compelling book which testifies well to a honest, brave and partially successful endeavor to present a story free of any political and ideological inclination. One may assume that diehards on both sides will find it difficult to accept the new formulations. Moreover, only time will tell us how far this attempt will have an impact on the current narratives of the opposing sides." Dr. Mordechai Bar-On, Israeli historian and former General and member of the Knesset. "An Israeli and a Palestinian historian attempt to present simultaneous narratives of the Arab Israeli conflict in order to, in their words, "facilitate recognition (though not necessarily acceptance) of the narrative of the other". This is done as a means of intellectually altering relations between the two sides, before a concordance is reached. This is not a task to be taken lightly. The text is meant to transform the 1948 narratives from 'a tool for mobilizing people to continue the conflict...' to a tool for facilitating empathetic identification of common ground for continued discussion based on mutual listening. That is a mighty objective that goes beyond the work of revisionist historiography. What comes out is informative, provocative and enlightening." Salim Tamari, Columbia University, Middle East Institute. Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements Note Introduction: Narrative, National Historical Narrative, and Historiography First Section: Before the War Chapter 1: Historical Background: The Path to War Chapter 2: From the Holocaust to the Partition of Palestine, 1945-1947 Second Section: The Narratives of the War, November 1947-July 1949 Chapter 3: The Path to Independence and the Nakba, November 1947-May 1948 Chapter 4: At the Expense of the Palestinians: The First Israeli-Arab War, May 1948-January 1949 Chapter 5: Ended But Not Completed, January-July 1949 Third Section: The Aftermath Chapter 6: Post-Trauma, Post-Euphoria, 1949-1956 Epilogue: 1948, Here and Now Bibliography Index List of Maps and Maps About the Authors Professor Motti Golani, Ph.D (1993), teaches at the Land of Israel Studies, Haifa University. His most recent research focuses on the end of the British Mandate in Palestine in 1945-1948: The End of the British Mandate for Palestine, 1948, Palgrave Macmillan and St. Antony's College, Oxford 2009; The Last Commissioner, Alan Gordon Cuningham, 1945-1948, TAU & Am Oved 2011 (Hebrew). The book will be published by UPNE in English. Dr. Adel Manna, Ph.D, is the director of the Academic Institute for Arab Teacher Training at Beit Berl College. His research is the history of Palestine in the Ottoman period; however, more recently he has conducted research on Palestinians in Israel during the first decade of the existence of the State of Israel.