BOOKS

Non-fiction books

A working historian, Michael Bar Zohar has published many books based on his own intensive research, among them the following:

• "Suez Top Secret" (1964) earned the Sokolov Prize (The Israeli Pulitzer) and the French Academy award. This book describes the secret alliance between France and Israel before and during the Suez War.

• "The Hunt for German Scientists"(1965) deals with the efforts of the Soviet Union and the United States after World War Two to get hold of thousands of German scientists and harness them to the projects of developing missiles and satellites.

• "Ben-Gurion, the Armed Prophet"(1966) is the first biography of David Ben-Gurion that Bar-Zohar wrote.

• "The Avengers"(1967) tells the poignant story of Holocaust survivors who tracked down Nazi criminals, in an effort to avenge their massacred brothers.

• "Embassies in Crisis"(1968) describes the behind-the-scenes struggle between diplomats, generals, spies and politicians, before and during the Six-Day War of 1967.

• "The Paratroopers" (1969) is the story of the elite corps of Israeli commandos, created and commanded by Ariel Sharon.

• "Spies in the Promised Land"(1970) is the biography of Isser Harel, the man who built and directed the Israeli Secret services, and was in charge of the capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

• "Ben-Gurion, a political biography" (3 volumes, Hebrew, 1978, 1 condensed volume, English, 1980) This was the detailed biography of David Ben-Gurion that is considered as the best book about Israel’s Old Man.

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Ben Gurion's Biography: As an historian, Michael Bar Zohar is perhaps best known for his official biography of David Ben Gurion, the founder of the State of Israel. He spent most of the years 1964-1978 writing Ben-Gurion's biography.This book was published in 14 languages, including Arabic and Chinese. Bar-Zohar wrote a play on Ben-Gurion's youth, and produced records of his speeches. He conceived the exhibit "Ben-Gurion" which was produced by the Tel-Aviv Museum in 1976 and toured the world. He also wrote the screenplay for a full-length documentary film, "Ben-Gurion remembers." The principal actor in this film was David Ben-Gurion himself, who told his life story in the company of personal and political friends: Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon, Golda Meir, Itzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan, Itzhak Navon, Zalman Shazar, Teddy Kollek, Yigael Yadin, fellow pioneers from his youth and his girlfriend Rachel, with whom he sailed to Jaffa in 1906.

• "The Quest for the Red Prince" (with Eitan Haber, 1983, updated edition 2002) tells the story of the hunt, by Israeli Mossad agents, for the heads of Black September. Black September, the predecessor of Al Qaeda, was the terrorist group that massacred the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

• "Arrows of the Almighty" (1985). Described as “the most extraordinary spy story of World War Two” this book narrated the strange odyssey of Paul Ernst Fackenheim, a German Jew who was forced to become a Nazi spy.

• "Heroes of Israel" (Hebrew, 1988) portrays 48 men and women of valor in all walks of life in modern Israel.

• "Facing a Cruel Mirror" (1990) sums up Bar-Zohar’s personal experience in politics and his analysis of Israel’s dilemmas.

• "Bitter Scent", L'Oreal, Nazis and the Arab boycott (1996). This book exposes the grim past of one of the world’s leading cosmetics companies, whose owners supported the French Nazi organizations, and maintained close relations with future President Mitterrand.

• "Lionhearts" ( Hebrew, 1997, English 1998) paints the profiles of the Jewish people’s greatest war heroes in modern times.

· "Beyond Hitler's Grasp" -The Heroic Rescue of 50,000 Bulgarian Jews, English 1998, also available as a documentary. This book tells the amazing story of the largest rescue of Jews from the Holocaust, by the Bulgarian people.

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• “Herzog – The Life and Times of a Jewish Prince” (Hebrew 2003, English, 2005) Jacob Herzog, a rabbi, a diplomat, a scholar, is considered as one of the wisest and ablest men in Israel’s political history. This is the biography of this man, the younger brother of President Chaim Herzog.

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• To be a Free People – The Saga of Israel (Hebrew 2004, English 2005), is a unique book that presents the canonic texts and pictures of Zionism and modern Israel, in twelve chapters based on the Declaration of Independence. The book includes three hundred texts: speeches, articles, letters, poems, excerpts from private diaries, military documents, Biblical verses, Supreme Court rulings, chapters from books and scenes from plays. The book also includes more than four hundred illustrations, paintings, posters, photographs, drawings, cartoons, stamps and rare documents. It is an inspiring treasure of information and knowledge never collected and presented before.

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• Massacre in Munich (With Eitan Haber, 2005) is an updated version of “The Quest for the Red Prince”.

• Shimon Peres – The Biography (Hebrew 2006, English 2007). This biography tells the dramatic life story of Shimon Peres, the controversial, gifted leader who built Israel’s Aircraft Industry and the nuclear reactor at Dimona, concluded Israel’s alliances with France and Germany, conceived the raid on Entebbe, and tried to make peace with the Palestinians and Jordan.

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NOVELS

Bar Zohar has also published several novels, some under the pen-names Michael Barak and Michael Hastings, and the latest under his real name. His novels have been published all over the world:

• "The Third Truth" (1972)
• "The Spy Who Died Twice" (1973)
• "The Secret List" (1975)
• "Enigma" (1978) later made into a movie starring Martin Sheen and Derek Jacobi
• "The Deadly Document" (1979)
• "The Phantom Conspiracy" (1981)
• "Double Cross" (1982)
• "A Spy in Winter" (1984)
• "The Unknown Soldier" (1986)
• "The Devil's spy" (1988)
• "Brothers" (1993)