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Growing up amidst the Arab-Israeli conflict
In his new memoir Crossing Mandelbaum Gate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kai Bird melds his personal history growing up in the Middle East with the political turmoil of the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1956 to 1978. As a child he lived through the Suez War of 1956, and later the June 1967 War and the Black September hijackings of 1970 that led to the Jordanian Civil War. His narrative chronicles how all of these events led to the rise and fall of subsequent political movements and how he navigated between people and cultures while surrounded by seemingly endless struggles.
In his new memoir Crossing Mandelbaum Gate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kai Bird melds his personal history growing up in the Middle East with the political turmoil of the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1956 to 1978. As a child he lived through the Suez War of 1956, and later the June 1967 War and the Black September hijackings of 1970 that led to the Jordanian Civil War. His narrative chronicles how all of these events led to the rise and fall of subsequent political movements and how he navigated between people and cultures while surrounded by seemingly endless struggles.
Guest:
Kai Bird, author of Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978 (Scribner)