The spell that the West has always exercised on the American people had its most intense impact on American literature and thought during the nineteenth century. Smith shows, with vast comprehension, the influence of the nineteenth-century West in all its variety and strength, in special relation to social, economic, cultural, and political forces. He traces the myths and symbols of the Westward movement such as the general notion of a Westward-moving Course of Empire, the Wild Western hero, the virtuous yeoman-farmer--in such varied nineteenth-century writings as Leaves of Grass, the great corpus of Dime Novels, and most notably, Frederick Jackson Turner's The Frontier in American History. Moreover, he synthesizesthe imaginative expression of Westernmyths and symbols in literature withtheir role in contemporary politics,economics, and society, embodiedin such forms as the idea of ManifestDestiny, the conflict in the Americanmind between idealizations of primitivism on the one hand and of progressand civilization on the other, theHomestead Act of 1862, and public-land policy after the Civil War. The myths of the American Westthat found their expression in nineteenth-century words and deeds remaina part of every American's heritage,and Smith, with his insightinto their power and significance,makes possible a critical appreciation of that heritage.

What is a homeland and when does it become a national territory? Why have so many people been willing to die for such places throughout the twentieth century? What is the essence of the Promised Land? Following the acclaimed and controversial The Invention of the Jewish People, Shlomo Sand examines the mysterious sacred land that has become the site of the longest-running national struggle of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Invention of the Land of Israel deconstructs the age-old legends surrounding the Holy Land and the prejudices that continue to suffocate it. Sand’s account dissects the concept of “historical right” and tracks the creation of the modern concept of the “Land of Israel” by nineteenth-century Evangelical Protestants and Jewish Zionists. This invention, he argues, not only facilitated the colonization of the Middle East and the establishment of the State of Israel; it is also threatening the existence of the Jewish state today.

This book offers a unique perspective on the State of Israel based on classical liberalism, both on a historical and theoretical level. Specifically, it makes a classical liberal and libertarian analysis based upon homesteading and private property rights to defend the State of Israel. As such, this work explores the history of the Jewish State, both to provide a positive case for its right to exist, and to clarify the myths surrounding its origin and development. At the same time, it deals with other relevant related subjects, such as the complex situation between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, the military campaigns against the Jewish State, the connection between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, and Israel’s economic miracle. The thorough analysis presented in this work intends to show not only why the voices and movements against Israel are wrong (including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, BDS), but more importantly, why Israel is an example of human flourishing and freedom that every advocate for liberty should celebrate. The Classical Liberal Case for Israel makes the practical and moral case for Israel. It is based on truths and facts that need to be repeated over and over. Block & Futerman understand that the only way to defeat a big lie is with a big truth. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel Classical Liberalism, often associated with the spread West from Northern Europe in creating free nations, is argued here as applying to Israel, with ancient roots in the principles of human freedom. Vernon L. Smith, Ph.D. Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2002), and Professor, George L. Argyros Endowed Chair in Finance and Economics, Professor of Economics and Law, Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy, at Chapman University.

Postzionism first emerged in the mid-1980s in writings by historians and social scientists that challenged the dominant academic versions of Israeli history, society, and national identity. This reader provides a spectrum of views on Zionism and its place in the global Jewish world of the twenty-first century.

What is a homeland? When does it become a national territory? Why have so many people been willing to die for such places throughout the twentieth century? What is the essence of the Promised Land? Following the acclaimed and controversial The Invention of the Jewish People, Shlomo Sand examines the mysterious sacred land that has become the site of the longest-running national struggle of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Invention of the Land of Israel deconstructs the age-old legends surrounding the Holy Land and the prejudices that continue to suffocate it. The invention of the modern concept of the "Land of Israel" in the nineteenth century, he argues, not only facilitated the colonization of the Middle East and the establishment of the State of Israel, it is also what is threatening Israel's existence today.