The Reckoning : Death and Intrigue in the Promised Land--a True Detective Story
Author(s): Patrick Bishop
One of Britain's most renowned military historians revisits a controversial murder: that of Zionist leader Avraham Stern, head of Israel's notorious Stern Gang, in Tel Aviv during WWII.
Militant Zionist Avraham Stern believed he was destined to be the Jewish liberator of British Palestine. As the ringleader of the infamous Stern Gang, also known as Lehi, he masterminded a series of high-profile terrorist attacks in pursuit of his dream. On the run from British authorities who'd put a bounty on his head, Stern was hiding in an attic in Tel Aviv when he was killed by Assistant Superintendent Geoffrey Morton, a British colonial policeman assigned to capture him.
Morton claimed Stern was trying to escape. But witnesses insisted he was executed in cold blood. His controversial death inspired a cult of martyrdom that gave new life to Lehi, helping to destroy hopes of a detente between the British, the Arabs, and the Jews.
The Reckoning is the story of Patrick Bishop's quest to discover the truth. Based on extensive research—including access to Morton's private archive and eyewitness interviews—it recounts this seismic event in full, without bias, placing it within the context of its turbulent time. Bishop's gripping, groundbreaking narrative brings to life two men similar in ambition and dedication, chronicles the events that led to their fatal meeting, and explores how the impact of Stern's death reverberated through the final years of British rule and the birth of Israel.
Review(s):
“Bishop’s book has all the suspense and detail of a good novel.”
“What [Bishop] does, thanks to tireless research and powerful storytelling, is show how a ruthless murderer of civilians became an unnecessary martyr.”
“Mr Bishop’s depiction of Stern’s downfall is masterful.”
“Bishop’s fast-paced, well-written work sheds considerable light not only on how and why Stern was killed but on the final, violent years of the British mandate in Palestine.”
“Clearly representing the point of view of the colonial British authorities, the author largely avoids demonizing or making heroes of either of his main protagonists, a failing of most English and Israeli accounts of the period.”
Praise for Fighter Boys: “I know of no more thoughtful nor yet more moving study of their achievement.”
“As a vivid chronicle of who the Battle of Britain pilots were, what motivated them, and why they were ultimately successful, Fighter Boys is unsurpassed.”
“No one reading this book can possibly doubt the heroism of those involved…there can’t be a finer history.”
“Bishop successfully weaves a story that is both entertaining and revealing…. He does an admirable job of showing how British police officers faced the difficult task of maintaining order between Jews and the Arabs whose resistance set the stage for later bloody confrontations.”
“Patrick Bishop’s book has important lessons for the modern day.”
ISBN: 9780062267832