Gaza: A History

Jean-Pierre Filiu’s book was the first comprehensive history of Gaza to be published in any language. This new, updated edition covers events since 2011, including Gaza’s renewed tragic centrality to world politics and security since October 2023.

Review
‘This history ranks as a masterpiece in the literature of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It tells us the facts, explains both sides of the coin and leaves readers to draw their conclusions. Its timing, of course, could not be better. An excellent but sobering book.’ — Michael Sheridan, The Sunday Times

‘Goes back far beyond the conflict that’s shaped [Gaza] over the last century.’ — Los Angeles Times

‘Jean-Pierre Filiu’s authoritative and well-sourced history of Gaza from earliest times to the end of 2011 fills a serious gap. Even those who know Gaza well will find much in this book to enlighten them.’ — The Independent

A magnificent piece of historical writing: clear in its exposition, careful in its use of a treasure-trove of new sources and judicious in its analysis of competing political claims to this small and troubled strip of land. It is difficult to see how it will ever be rivalled in terms of scope, intensity and sympathetic understanding.’ — Roger Owen, Emeritus Professor of Middle East History, Harvard University

‘Jean-Pierre Filiu tells the story of Gaza’s modern political history in impressive detail.’ — David Shulman, New York Review of Books

‘Superbly researched and well written, Filiu’s work is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand contemporary affairs in the Middle East and the relationship between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people.’ — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

‘[W]hile the Gaza Strip has always been a crucible for change, there have been few books on the subject; Jean-Pierre Filiu’s Gaza: A History fills a gap in the literature. … I have spent the last 30 years researching the Arab-Israeli conflict and I thought that I knew everything worth knowing about the region and the conflict, but it was a pleasant surprise to learn some new things from Filiu’s book. Gaza: A History … is an important study which I strongly recommend.’ — Ahron Bregman, History Today

‘In this thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and deftly written historical account of the Gaza Strip beginning with the Hyksos from 18th century BCE and extending to the present, Filiu … has arguably written the best book on Gaza’s history. He shows the historical intricacies between political and military developments and how such processes have shaped the Arab-Israeli conflict. … A must read for students and scholars of the modern Middle East, and anyone who wants to understand Palestinian history.’ — Choice

‘Based on interviews and hard to find documents, Filiu’s book is a remarkable work of scholarship that will long stand as the standard history of Gaza. In a subject area strewn with polemic, the author is objective and level-headed.’ — John Calvert, Professor of History, Creighton University, USA