Permission to speak, Sah!In the aftermath of the Second World War, over two million men were conscripted to serve in Britain's armed services. Some were sent abroad and watched their friends die in combat. Others remained in barracks and painted coal white. But despite delivering such varied experiences, National Service helped to shape the outlook of an entire generation of young British males.Historian Dr Colin Shindler has interviewed a wide range of ex-conscripts, from ...

Colin Shindler was dealt a cruel hand by Fate when he became a passionate Manchester City supporter. In this brilliant sporting autobiography he recalls the great characters of his youth, like his eccentric Uncle Laurence, as well as his professional heroes. Threaded through these sporting events is the author's own story, which touches on a universal nerve, growing up in a Jewish family, his childhodd destroyed by the sudden death of his mother and his slow emotional recovery through his ...

Colin Shindler has previously written of his deep love for Manchester City in the bestselling Manchester United Ruined My Life and three other previous books. Now he tells the story of his sorrowful disenchantment with his home town club as, on the instruction of its new foreign owners, it turns itself remorselessly into a global brand. Trophyless since 1976, in 2011 Manchester City won the FA Cup and set off on their quest for the Premiership and the Champions League. In their zeal to win...

For over a century, the Middle East has been riven by conflict driven by Jewish and Arab nationalism. They came about at the same point in history with claims over the same territory.Their encounter has evolved into one of the most enduring and divisive geopolitical issues of the modern era – one defined by its complexity and its extremism and unfolding against a backdrop of 24-hour rolling news and social-media outrage. A Forever War: Israel, Palestine and the Struggles for St...

FOUR LIONS explores the changing landscape of postwar England through the careers of four iconic England football captains: Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, Gary Lineker and David Beckham. Between Wright, who fought in World War II, and Beckham, whose battles against Germany were played out on the football field, huge shifts in English society were mirrored by seismic changes to the national game as television transformed the way in which it is financed and consumed.In England, more than...

Colin Shindler's remarkable history begins in 1948, as waves of immigrants arrived in Israel from war-torn Europe to establish new cities, new institutions, and a new culture founded on the Hebrew language. Optimistic beginnings were soon replaced with the sobering reality of wars with Arab neighbours, internal ideological differences, and ongoing confrontation with the Palestinians. In this updated edition, Shindler covers the significant developments of the last decade, including the ris...

Since its establishment in 1948, the state of Israel has not ceased to be a unique and controversial entity: vehemently opposed by some, and loyally supported by others. In this novel and original study, Colin Shindler tells the history of Israel through the unusual vehicle of cartoons - all drawn by different generations of irreverent and contrarian Israeli cartoonists. Richly illustrated with a cartoon for every year since Israel's establishment until 2020, Shindler offers new perspectiv...

The Israeli Right first came to power nearly four decades ago. Its election was described then as 'an earthquake', and its reverberations are still with us. How then did the Right rise to power? What are its origins? Colin Shindler traces this development from the birth of Zionism in cosmopolitan Odessa in the nineteenth century to today's Hebron, a centre of radical Jewish nationalism. He looks at central figures such as Vladimir Jabotinsky, an intellectual and founder of the Revisionist ...

The saga of Israel is fascinating, unique, and controversial. Yet the whole is constructed from individual episodes. This book concentrates on relating such episodes rather than narrating a formal, conventional history up until the present day. Each section deals with a different aspect of this journey through the decades. The chapters are based on the author’s own articles, published over the last fifty years in many outlets, from The New York Times and The Jerusalem Post to The Guardian....

In the spring of 1964 more than 50,000 people turned out to watch the two-legged semi-final of the FA Youth Cup between Manchester City and Manchester United. It was a time of great hope and excitement: a new era was to be ushered in, with the virtues of youth personified in the Beatles and Harold Wilson - and in the teams that played. But what happened next? For some, like George Best, it was the start of a golden era of success; but for others it was the highlight of a career that never ...

Permission to speak, Sah!In the aftermath of the Second World War, over two million men were conscripted to serve in Britain's armed services. Some were sent abroad and watched their friends die in combat. Others remained in barracks and painted coal white. But despite delivering such varied experiences, National Service helped to shape the outlook of an entire generation of young British males.To mark the 50th anniversary of the end of National Service, historian Dr Colin ...

Zionism was a movement of national liberation. It sought to establish a permanent home for the Jewish people where they could attain political independence and instigate a national renaissance. Some Zionists were inspired by a vision of religious redemption and the onset of the messianic age. For others it represented the construction of a perfect society. Others aspired to the more modest creation of a modern technological, capitalist state. The Hebrew Republic which came into being in Ma...