This study offers a concise yet comprehensive account of Israel's history as told through the lives of nine of its leading citizens and founders. Each chapter chronicles a critical epoch in the Israeli saga and catalogs the impact made on that epoch by one of nine leading protagonists--Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben-Gurion, Abba Eban, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, and Ariel Sharon. The result is a narrative that traces events from the genesis of modern political Zionism in the late 19th century to the present. A tapestry of history, biography and myth deconstruction, this volume provides a distinctive introduction to a nation that--whether it inspires pride or incites passions--never ceases to fascinate.