Overview

Rose Mary Sheldon's book is the first published which details warfare in the ancient Near East and the crucial role of intelligence gathering in the Holy Land. The land has been fiercely contested by various parties for thousands of years. Much of the fighting was done not in large battles and confrontations, but rather in smaller guerrilla operations of low intensity conflict. Since the very heart of guerrilla operations or surprise attacks is knowing where the enemy will be, timely and accurate intelligence is essential to any successful operation. The Jews fought as guerrillas when they were nomads in the desert trying to take over the cities of Canaan. As an occupied state, they fought three wars of liberation against the Greeks and Romans. This meant fighting as guerrillas, using terroism and organising clandestinely. The modern irony is that the Jews are the established power once again in their homeland and it is the Palestinians who are fighting a guerrilla war in the form of the intifada. This type of warfare seems to be endemic to the region because of its small size, and therefore intelligence will always play a large part in any conflict. In Jews Against Rome, Rose Mary Sheldon highlights the importance of espionage and traces the role intellingence has played from the Jewish exodus from Egypt to the Bar Kochba Revolt. Her text includes an analysis of The Last Supper, the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the attack on Masada, the Maccabees and the Battles of Beth Horon, Emmaus and Beth Zur.

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9781853676369

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Col. Rose Mary Sheldon received her Ph.D. in ancient history from the University of Michigan and is currently Head of the Department of History at the Virginia Military Institute. Her special field is intelligence history and she is on the Editorial boards of the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, The Journal of Military History and Small Wars and Insurgencies, and has written more than three dozen articles on aspects of ancient intelligence. Her books include Espionage in the Ancient World: An Annotated Bibliography and Intelligence Activities in Ancient Rome: Trust in the Gods, But Verify.

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