LeBor does a good job of showing both sides of a history and both sides of a conflict. In a field that is full of polemics, this is an important book which lets you read about people and families on both sides of the Israel-Palestine situation.

LeBor follows the stories of six families of Jaffa and how they have been effected and how they themselves have made the history of Israel and Palestine.

I'm not a student of Middle-Eastern politics, so my opinion of this is necessarily that of a layman.