This is a well documented account of the main milestones on the road that led to the Six Day War and beyond. Walter Laqueur concentrates on those weeks of mounting tension and feverish diplomacy which preceded the outbreak of war, but he also analyses the underlying causes of the war, the clash of rival and irreconcilable nationalism. He paints a surprising picture of the Middle East and world of the Arab nations torn by internal dissension and whipped into war frenzy by decades of irresponsible propaganda yet stumbling unprepared into the long awaited conflict; of an Israeli government which was unready and confused; and on the sidelines of Russia and America, two impotent super powers outpaces by events and unable to restrain their proteges.