The myths and reality behind the state of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the most eloquent writer on Palestinian history (New Statesman).

In this groundbreaking book, published on the fiftieth anniversary of the Occupation, the outspoken and radical Israeli historian Ilan Pappé examines the most contested ideas concerning the origins and identity of the contemporary state of Israel.

The “ten myths” that Pappé explores—repeated endlessly in the media, enforced by the military, accepted without question by the world’s governments—reinforce the regional status quo. He explores the claim that Palestine was an empty land at the time of the Balfour Declaration, as well as the formation of Zionism and its role in the early decades of nation building. He asks whether the Palestinians voluntarily left their homeland in 1948, and whether June 1967 was a war of “no choice.”

Turning to the myths surrounding the failures of the Camp David Accords and the official reasons for the attacks on Gaza, Pappé explains why the two-state solution is no longer viable.

The Man Who Would Be King is literature’s most famous adventure story, penned by the renowned Rudyard Kipling. This stirring tale follows two happy-go-lucky British ne’er-do-wells as they attempt to carve out their own kingdom in the remote mountains of Afghanistan. Amidst its raucous humor and swashbuckling bravado, the story offers a devastatingly astute dissection of imperialism and its heroic pretensions.

Written when Kipling was only 22 years old, the novella features some of his most crystalline prose and one of the most beautifully rendered, spectacularly exotic settings he ever used. Best of all, it features two of his most unforgettable characters, the ultra-vivid Cockneys Peachy Carnahan and Daniel Dravot, who impart to the story its ultimate, astonishing twist: it is both a tragedy and a triumph.

This novella is part of the Art of The Novella Series by Melville House, celebrating this renegade art form beloved by literature's greatest writers.