Praise for previous editions:'Ovendale does an admirable job of making sense of these diverse currents, and turns the history of the conflict into a coherent, readable narrative.'The Economist'Although Ritchie Ovendale's book is short, it is extremely well documented...If one wants to understand the origins of the Arab-Israeli wars, one must read this brief book.'Hatem I. Hussaini, American-Arab AffairsOf all the troubles affecting the modern world few are as topical, deep rooted and intractable as the Arab-Israeli conflict. For this region, an understanding of the past is vital to an understanding of the present. Ritchie Ovendale's classic study of the roots of the conflict is now updated for a fourth time and considers events until 2003.Ovendale begins this timely new edition by analysing anti-Semitism in modern Europe, the 'Arab awakening' and continues through to the present, covering the creation of the state of Israel, the 1967 and October 1973 wars, the first Palestinian uprising and peace processes of the 1980 and 1990s. This fourth edition also includes a major new chapter on the 'al-Aqsa intifada', as the second Palestinian uprising has become known. Erupting in 2000 and stemming from disillusionment with the Oslo accords, this intifada has added to the ever increasing numbers killed in the conflict. The latest Anglo-American 'road map' for peace is outlined to bring the story up to date.This highly-regarded history gives a balanced and judicious introduction to this immensely complex and controversial subject, weaving different strands of the story into a single coherent narrative, thus making it essential reading for all students studying conflict in the Middle East.Ritchie Ovendale is formerly Professor of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.His many publications include The Longman Companion to the Middle East Since 1914 (Longman, second edition, 1998) and Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century (Palgrave, 1998).