My Life

Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781399603539

Price: £12.99

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Blockbusting film GOLDA starring Helen Mirren is out now

‘The gripping memoir of a remarkable woman who rose to the top in a man’s world. A compelling political story of courage and struggle, power and leadership, war and crisis – and the making of Israel. A classic of 20th century history‘ Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY

‘A remarkable, almost incredible personal history … stimulating and fascinating’ IRISH TIMES

A rare and wholly unforgettable work’ SATURDAY REVIEW

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY JULIA NEUBERGER

Golda Meir was without doubt one of the most incredible women of her – and any – time. Born in 1898 in Kyiv, she was the daughter of an impoverished carpenter – and became the first (and only) female Prime Minister of Israel. Meir’s earliest memory is of her father boarding up the front door in response to rumours of an imminent pogrom. The family emigrated to the US and for a while Meir lived with her sister, where she was exposed to debates on Zionism, women’s suffrage, literature and socialism. She became a teacher, and after her marriage emigrated again to Palestine, settling on a kibbutz.

Always politically active, she became Israel’s first envoy to Moscow; was promoted to Foreign Minister and ultimately elected as Prime Minister, leader of Israel. In her autobiography she wrote: ‘To me, being Jewish means and has always meant being proud to be part of a people that has maintained its distinct identity for more than 2,000 years, with all the pain and torment that has been inflicted upon it’

Reviews

The gripping memoir of a remarkable woman who rose to the top in a man's world. A compelling political story of courage and struggle, power and leadership, war and crisis - and the making of Israel. A classic of 20th century history
Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY
A remarkable, almost incredible personal history ... stimulating and fascinating
IRISH TIMES
A rare and wholly unforgettable work
SATURDAY REVIEW
Remarkable ... a book to be read
SPECTATOR
Many of us have long regarded Mrs Golda Meir as by far the most formidable woman leader in the public life of our times. This book proves it. It is an astonishing record of courage, iron determination and achievement ... compulsory reading and of absorbing interest
BOOKS AND BOOKMEN
A trailblazing leader ... her legacy and impact remain alive in the hearts and deeds of all those whom she inspired
Hillary Rodham Clinton
A story of a girl cowering from a pogrom who grew up to pioneer a new state and become its prime minister must be fantastical. But it's not. Here, in her own passionate words, Golda Meir gives us the astonishing story of her life and of her role in the making of the nation that realized the 2,000 year-old dream of the Jewish people.
Pamela S. Nadell, author of America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today