Sharon The Life of a Leader

From his youth as a soldier to his service in government, Ariel Sharon has personified Israel’s drive for security. His leadership during the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars made him a national hero and propelled him into politics. His commitment to protect his people underscored his election to prime minister in 2001. But within months of taking office, daily suicide bombings in Israel and the 9/11 attacks shook the Western world—thrusting Ariel Sharon into the center of international affairs.

Throughout his life, Sharon kept a meticulous record of events—personal notes, diaries, military directives, correspondence, and thousands of other documents—and the conversations he conducted with world leaders including George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin, Kofi Annan, Hosni Mubarak, Mahmoud Abbas, and more.

Gilad Sharon, the prime minister’s youngest son and close confidant, has combed through his father’s vast archive to offer an intimate and compelling look at one man’s evolution into one of the world’s most influential figures. Filled with news-making revelations, Sharon is the anatomy of being prime minister, a dazzling portrait of a legendary leader and the nation he helped build.

ISBN-13: 9780061721502
Author : Gilad Sharon
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 10/25/2011

Editorial Reviews - Publishers Weekly

Israeli columnist Sharon draws on a unique set of family and documentary sources (including personal diaries) to tell the story of his father, one of Israel's great political and military leaders. Born in 1928 and struck down in early 2006 while working on Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, Sharon's life and battles paralleled those of his country. He was close to David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, who supported his military career in the 1950s, and to the eventual Oslo accord peace-maker Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister after the 1973 war, under whom Sharon served as security adviser.

In 1977, he helped found the Likud Party to break the political mold of Israeli politics, and was prepared to launch such an effort again in 2006 with Kadima. His blunt views of the Israeli political and military leaders with whom he served make for surprising reading, and his disagreements with Israel's political command receive attention here. The biography vividly delineates the qualities a leader needs to excel today. (Oct.)

Meet the Author

Gilad Sharon is the youngest of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s sons. Gilad holds a master’s degree in economics and writes a column for the prominent Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. A major in the Israel Defense Force reserves, he currently manages his family’s farm in Israel.