The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People

"and Israel...Stretching from the colonial era to the present day, Mead's comprehensive history analyzes the impacts of Christianity's changing attitudes toward Judaism and Jews; broad political trends that enabled the acceptance of Jewish people 'as active members of the American commonwealth,' exemplified by George Washington's 1790 letter to the congregation of Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I.; and economic developments such as the rise of labor unions...Though he declines to offer detailed prescriptions for how American leaders should handle Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Iranian funding of Hamas, and other contentious matters, Mead provides more than enough context to understand them...The result is a valuable resource for policymakers and voters alike."

"Mead leads us with an even tone and expert hand through centuries of history, and through disparate topics including Puritan theology, the politics at the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the personality of Billy Graham ..."

"Spanning nearly 150 years of history, The Arc of a Covenant elucidates the deep cultural, historical, and strategic forces that buttress the United States-Israel relationship ..."

"and its relationship with Jewish people and Israel...The author supplies an overview of the political and cultural context of U.S."

"Any careful reader will come away from this book armed with facts, history and context, and with a clarity absent from most discussions of the subject...this volume is more than timely — it is necessary ..."

"government and media, to say nothing of its finances, is not worth discussing...Far more important is the seemingly intractable issue of political balance in the always-volatile region, with American political leaders so often favoring close ties with authoritarian Arab states even as dollars-and-cents–minded policymakers have had to negotiate ways to 'ensure the security of the oil producers…so that no single power had the ability to interrupt the oil flow'...Writing fluently and with a depth born of decades of study, Mead urges that Israelis and Palestinians work harder to achieve ever elusive peace in the region, holding that 'the creation of a Palestinian state will move both sides closer to a mutually acceptable accommodation'...An essential contribution to the literature of politics and diplomacy in the Middle East."

"Mead is so fluent on such a broad range of topics — from history to religion to policy to politics — that I learned something new from each of his detours."