His­tor­i­cal facts alone can­not explain why and how things hap­pen. This new psy­cho­an­a­lyt­ic his­to­ry by Avn­er Falk is an attempt to look beyond the facts in order to explain what is tru­ly hap­pen­ing between Pales­tini­ans and Israelis. 

In the ear­ly part of this work, Falk looks at Sharon and Arafat as case stud­ies. In exam­in­ing what they said and did over the years the author tries to explain to us, the lay read­er, the under­ly­ing psy­cho­log­i­cal issues that caused each man to behave as he did. 

By far the most impor­tant part of the book is the last few chap­ters, in which Falk deals with the Arab mind­set and the Israeli mind­set. He cov­ers issues that are on the minds of every­one who fol­lows the affairs of the Mid­dle East: What makes the sui­cide bomber tick? Can the con­flict ever be resolved? Index.