Menachem Begin father of Israel's right wing & sixth prime minister of the nation was known for his unflinchingly hawkish ideology. & yet in 1979 he signed a groundbreaking peace treaty with Egypt for which he & Egyptian president Anwar Sadat received the Nobel Prize for Peace. Such a contradiction was typical in Begin's life: no other Israeli played as many different sometimes conflicting roles as Begin & no other figure inspired such sharply opposing responses. Begin was belittled & beloved revered & despised & his career was punctuated by exhilarating highs on the one hand despair & ostracism on the other. This riveting biography is the first to provide a satisfactory answer to the question Who was Begin? Based on wide-ranging research among archival documents & on testimonials & interviews with Begin's closest advisers the book presents a detailed new portrait of the founding leader. Among the many topics the book holds up to new light are Begin's antagonistic relationship with David Ben-Gurion his controversial role in the 1982 Lebanon War his unique leadership style the changes in his ideology over the years & the mystery behind the total silence he maintained at the end of his career. Through Begin's remarkable life the book also recounts the history of the right-wing segment of Israeli society a story essential to understanding the Israel of today.