The National Museum of American Jewish Military History will host a virtual book talk by a Penn State faculty member at 3 p.m. June 18 on Zoom.
Boaz Dvir, assistant professor of journalism in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, will discuss his book “Saving Israel: The Unknown Story of Smuggling Weapons and Winning a Nation’s Independence” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).
Washington Times book reviewer Joshua Sinai called “Saving Israel” a “fascinating and dramatic account filled with lots of new information about a crucially formative period.”
The event is free and open to the public, although registration is required.
“Some of the most important stories we tell show the ways World War II veterans used their military experiences to try to repair the world in a variety of ways. ‘Saving Israel’ is an important contribution to this,” said Michael Rugel, the museum’s programs and content coordinator. “We’re excited to welcome Boaz Dvir to share how these American veterans played a key role in Israel’s fight for Independence.”
“Saving Israel,” follows “A Wing and a Prayer,” Dvir’s PBS documentary about World War II aviators who raced against the clock in 1948 to prevent what they viewed as an imminent second Holocaust. Roku and Plex recently added the hour-long film, which won Best Documentary at the 2016 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, to their free-movie offerings.
Dvir’s 320-page book is available in hardcover and digital formats on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, and other websites and stores. The audiobook version is available on U.S.-based sites such as Apple Books (formerly iTunes) and audiobooks.com, and international sites such as Storytel and Kobo. It is expected to be on Audible later this summer.
Defense and Foreign Affairs Handbook Editor Gregory R. Copley described “Saving Israel” as historical and quite timely.
“The book, written in a journalistic style, tells a tale which not only is educational about the formation of Israel and the age into which it was born, but about the role which innovation and creativity can play in the saving of any society during a period of existential crisis,” Copley wrote. “It is about how people discover their identity — which is usually in times of crisis — and how they can act to preserve that identity to create anew.”