When writing a book on any historical subject, authors are indebted to those who have gone before them, and on whose work they build. We have learned much from Truman’s various biographers and to those scholars who have written previously on both the Truman era and on Truman and Israel. Some of them may differ wih our interpretation and analysis, but our book is richer because of their pioneering work.
We want to thank the archivists at the various archives we visited for sharing their expertise and pointing out valuable sources. At the Harry S. Truman Library, we thank Michael Devine, director of the library, and his staff. We are especially indebted to that master of the archive, Randy Sowell, who knew which hidden files might contain gems we could have overlooked. He also helped us by promptly replying to e-mail requests, and in answering any questions we had as we went along in our research and writing. Others who helped us at the library were Ray Geselbracht, special assistant to the director, Amy Williams, supervisory archivist, and audiovisual archivist Pauline Testerman.
The resources of the Center for Jewish History in New York City, which houses the archival collections of the American Jewish Historical Society and the YIVO Institute, among others, was important to our study. We are especially indebted to archivist Susan Woodland, director of the Hadassah Archives, who helped us with our queries and with finding relevant material.
At our hometown public library in Martinsburg, West Virginia, librarian Bernadette Whalen got us rare and otherwise unavailable books from libraries far and wide. We could not have written this book without her help in obtaining access to these materials.
At the Library of Congress, our friend and colleague John Earl Haynes, archivist of Recent American History, obtained articles for us from relevant journals. He also led us to manuscript collections that he thought would be useful. We also received help at the LOC from Jennifer Brathovde and Bruce Kirby.
At the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, Executive Director Rafael Medoff discussed issues with us and made available photos for our use from their photo archive.
At the University of Minnesota, University Archivist Elizabeth Kaplan and Assistant archivist Karen Klinkenberg helped us with access to the Max Lowenthal papers. We would also like to thank Sean Martin, associate curator for Jewish history at Western Reserve Historical Society.
In Israel, our research was facilitated by the following people: Merav Segal, director of the Weizmann archive at Rehovot, not only brought relevant files to our attention, but arranged a personal tour of the late Zionist leader’s home. At the Central Zionist Archives, we were guided to relevant files by Rochelle Rubinstein, deputy director of archival matters. At the Harry S. Truman Institute of World Peace at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, our host was Jill Twersky, coordinator of events and publications, who arranged our participation at a panel on Truman and Israel presented at the University’s 60th Anniversary and the Institute’s 40th. Finally, we would like to thank Josh Block for arranging a trip to Israel for us under the auspices of the American-Israel Educational Foundation. The incredible tour gave us a good sense of life in Israel past and present.
The former archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein, not only offered his enthusiastic support, but alerted others to our project. He gave us his own writings on the subject and shared other material with us. Jeffrey Herf, professor of history at the University of Maryland and scholar of German history, shared his insights on radical Islam with us. Tuvia Friling, former National Archivist of Israel, was living in Washington, D.C., when we were writing the book, when he was visiting scholar at the National Holocaust Museum. He not only discussed material with us, but was good enough to translate material we needed from Hebrew to English. Sol Stern, an expert on Israel, discussed at length with us the role played by Peter Bergson, whom he knew well. Eric Fettman at The New York Post provided us with material on Abe Feinberg. Peter Collier read parts of the manuscript and gave us his expert advice.
At HarperCollins, we thank our editor, Claire Wachtel, who showed great faith in our project from the beginning, made incisive comments on the manuscript, and gave us helpful recommendations for its improvement. Her able assistant editor, Julia Novitch, handled myriad problems and was always available for dealing with issues as they came up. We are indebted to copy editor Lynn Anderson, who carefully went through our manuscript, improved it, and prevented us from committing errors. We take responsibility for any that remain.
And finally, good friends and relatives provided us with useful information and shared our enthusiasm. These include Shari Nadell, Bob Cohen, Louis Menashe, and Danny Kalb. Our friends Nancy Lieber and Robert J. Lieber of Georgetown University, whose understanding of the Middle East is second to none, helped in many invaluable ways. Special thanks and gratitude goes to our children and their spouses: Michael and Jennifer Radosh, Daniel Radosh and Gina Duclayan, Laura Radosh and Silke Radosh Hinder, and our grandchildren, Milo, Margalit, and Malka.