cover image Chaim Weizmann: The Making of a Statesman Volume 2

Chaim Weizmann: The Making of a Statesman Volume 2

Jehuda Reinharz. Oxford University Press, USA, $45 (560pp) ISBN 978-0-19-507215-0

How did a mere lecturer at Manchester University in England appoint himself spokesman of world Jewry, rise to leadership of the Zionist movement and sway British policy on Palestine? That is the enigma Brandeis University historian Reinharz explores in this gripping, awesomely researched portrait of a towering figure. Weizmann's tenacity, sense of timing, charm, persuasive oratory, organizational skills and perceived authenticity as a ``representative'' Jew made his gutsy diplomatic brinkmanship possible. A brilliant chemist, the Russian-born Zionist leader (1874-1952) synthesized acetone for the production of explosives while in the service of Great Britain during WW I, which added to his aura. As Brandeis historian Reinharz persuasively argues, Weizmann, sometimes characterized as a convenient tool in the hands of British politicians, played a crucial role in steering the negotations that led to the Balfour Declaration, in which Great Britian pledged its support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Covering the years 1914-1922, this second installment in a multivolume life incisively portrays an autocratic, manipulative, Anglophile master strategist whose single-minded devotion to a cause changed history. Photos. (Jan.)