Amazon.com description: Product Description: This study examines the life and political biography of Menachem Begin, tracing the course of his career from obscure beginnings to his command of an illegal underground organization and to national leadership. It offers a comprehensive and authoritative interpretation of the intellectual and spiritual world of the former prime minister of Israel. The author unfolds the struggle for power behind the facade of harmony and comradeship, illuminating the peculiar historical phenomenon by which the intellectually superficial faction of the Zionist right gained political dominance. Born in 1913, Begin is representative of a generation whose political education was acquired during the tempestuous years between the wars. His premiership (1977 - 1983) constitutes the most significant attempt to translate into reality the legacy of the Israeli right. From this point of view, the author also examines a political tradition which has far-reaching influence on the values, structure and the historical fate of Israeli society.