Arik: The Life of Ariel Sharon, by David Landau (Knopf)

Arik is the first in-depth, comprehensive biography of Ariel Sharon, the most dramatic and imposing Israeli political and military leader of the last forty years.It includes 32 pages of photographs.

David Landau's career in journalism began in 1970 at The Jerusalem Post, and he joined Haaretz in 1993 as news editor. He founded Haaretz's English edition and was its editor from 1997 to 2004, and was was editor in chief of Haaretz's Hebrew edition until 2008. He collaborated with Israel's president Shimon Peres on Peres's memoir, Battling for Peace, and published, with Peres, Ben-Gurion: A Political Life.

Soldier in the Sinai: A General's Account of the Yom Kippur War, by Major General Emanuel Sakal, IDF.(Kentucky University Press)

In October 1973, Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed negotiated ceasefire boundaries to launch surprise military attacks on the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, igniting what became known as the Yom Kippur War.

In Soldier in the Sinai, mobile and armored warfare expert Major General Emanuel Sakal analyzes the strategic decisions made by Israel's political and military leadership and illuminates the causes of the initial failure.

An intriguing and detailed evaluation of Israel's flawed defense, Solider in the Sinai offers a firsthand account of military strategy from a general who commanded a regular tank battalion that fought in the most desperate battles of the conflict. Based on extensive research, including interviews with the principal officers involved, this book provides a meticulous critique of the faulty assumptions and lack of planning that contributed to the disastrous early battles of the Yom Kippur War.