Moshe Dayan
The Making of a Strategist

Explores the basis and justification for Dayan's reputation as a strategist and what made his command and leadership unique.

Eitan Shamir (Author)

9781009011730, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 April 2025

458 pages, 20 b/w illus. 10 maps
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.652 kg

'Shamir's voluminous Moshe Dayan is the best biography of the remarkable general-cum-politician till now. Based on a mass of Hebrew sources, the author, by providing all sides of the argument, presents a balanced picture of the enigmatic historical figure. Moshe's life shows that he was a man of action and learnt from practical experiences rather than books. Shamir's solid biography will remain as the standard academic work on Dayan and also on the tumultuous history of Israel for the foreseeable future.' Kaushik Roy, New York Military Affairs Symposium

In this major re-evaluation of Moshe Dayan's life and career, Eitan Shamir examines one of the most influential individuals in the history of modern Israel. As IDF Chief of Staff, theatre commander during the Sinai campaign and defence minister during the Six Days and Yom Kippur Wars, Dayan shaped Israeli history as well as the principles of Israel's security and foreign affairs. Eitan Shamir explores the basis and justification for Dayan's reputation as a strategist and what made his command and leadership unique. He reveals the ways in which Moshe Dayan led and planned his campaigns, how he made his decisions and his style as a general and a strategist. His findings shed important new light on broader issues of military command and culture, political-military relations, insurgency and counterinsurgency and the relations between small states and large powers, drawing lasting lessons for strategy today.

Preface
1. The Education of a Strategist
2. From Tactical Command to Political Negotiator: The War of Independance
3. Generalship
4. Theater Commander: The Sinai Campaign
5. 'The Minister of Victory': The Six-Day War
6. Minister of the Palestinian Territories
7. The War of Attrition: Fighting Egyptians and Soviets
8. The God Who Failed
9. The Turning Point
10. The Deal Maker: Peace With Egypt
11. The Development of a Strategist
Index.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW]