Operation Crusader, launched in November 1941, was the third and final British attempt to relieve... more Operation Crusader, launched in November 1941, was the third and final British attempt to relieve the siege of Tobruk and break the German and Italian forces in North Africa. After tough initial fighting, the British made important gains, only to be countered by a stunning breakthrough overseen personally by Lt. General Erwin Rommel. As the British situation teetered, the commander of the 8th Army, Lt. General Alan Cunningham, was relieved of duty by his superior, General Claude Auchinleck. This decision changed the direction of the battle and perhaps the war itself. Why and how Cunningham was relieved has been the subject of commentary and speculation since it occurred.
Using newly discovered evidence, Alexander Joffe rethinks the events that brought about the sudden relief of the operation's commanding officer, including insubordination. The book then discusses how narratives regarding the operation were created, were incorporated into British and Commonwealth official and unofficial historical writing about the war, and contributed to British historical memory. Based on a decade of archival work, the book presents a new and detailed analysis of a consequential battle and, importantly, of how its history was written and received in the context of post-war Britain.
Most scholars believe that flax was extensively cultivated in southern Levantine and Near Eastern... more Most scholars believe that flax was extensively cultivated in southern Levantine and Near Eastern prehistory and was then replaced by wool from domesticated sheep. This discussion proposes instead that there is no evidence for flax being cultivated at scale. Instead, flax was used for cordage while linen was a specialized fiber used primarily for mortuary and elite purposes during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. A review of Near Eastern evidence also concludes that flax played little role in a ‘Fiber Revolution.’ Experimentation with hair and wool in Syria and Mesopotamia led to industrial scale production by the Uruk period and brought social, economic, and landscape transformations. In the southern Levant, however, the evidence is far more scant. Wool apparently became more important during the third millennium but this discussion hypothesizes that skins, including sheepskins, were the predominant source of clothing.
Transitions during the Early Bronze Age in the Levant, Methodological Problems and Interpretative Perspectives, 2022
Explaining the collapse of the Chalcolithic has been a persistent problem. New evidence has emerg... more Explaining the collapse of the Chalcolithic has been a persistent problem. New evidence has emerged for environmental changes and shifts in resource procurement and technological systems. Ritual failure provides a framework for understanding these and other impacts on a society where religion, sensu lato, was everything.
In I. Shai et al., eds., Tell it in Gath: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Israel. Essays in Honor of A. M. Maeir on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday., 2018
The decision-making process behind the appointment of General Alan Cunningham as High Commissione... more The decision-making process behind the appointment of General Alan Cunningham as High Commissioner of Palestine in November 1945 to replace Field Marshal Lord Gort has been difficult to explain. Cunningham’s record as a failed wartime general and backwater administrative commander were scant preparation for an important political position in Mandatory Palestine. Newly located files indicate Vice Chief of the Imperial Staff Archibald Nye listed Cunningham among a series of possible candidates for consideration by Prime Minister Clement Atlee. Terror attacks in Palestine, American pressure over Jewish refugees, the need to secure additional American loans, and the covert Anglo-French intelligence war in the Middle East, pressured Atlee to make a quick decision. After some confusion Cunningham was selected and Chief of the Imperial General Staff Alan Brooke approved. Haste and personal connections therefore brought about a critical appointment that shaped the end of the Mandate.
... Les archéologues tiennent aujourd'hui compte de manière plus importante de la nature dyn... more ... Les archéologues tiennent aujourd'hui compte de manière plus importante de la nature dynamique de l'ethnicité, fondée d'une part sur les changements internes dus à la tradition et à l'histoire, d'autre part sur les modifications externes d'origine socio-politique et économique. ...
Commenting on the Faust-Finkelstein exchange is rather like being a sportscaster at a chess match... more Commenting on the Faust-Finkelstein exchange is rather like being a sportscaster at a chess match being conducted through the mail. There is limited action, the world moves on between volleys, and in the moment it all ap-pears quite engrossing. At best such matches end in draws, with both sides making useful empirical and theoretical points. To col-legially advance the discussion a sideways approach is in order. In his 2003 piece, Faust suggests that Iron I village sites were abandoned at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the tenth century, were not reoccupied during the Iron II, and that this phenomenon should be explained in terms of the formation of a central Israelite state. Finkelstein disagrees on a number of grounds. He believes Faust is simply following the biblical accounts in his organization of otherwise heterogeneous archaeological data from different regions and methods and that he uses inappropriate analogies and engages in circular reasoning. Faust presents an ...
Operation Crusader, launched in November 1941, was the third and final British attempt to relieve... more Operation Crusader, launched in November 1941, was the third and final British attempt to relieve the siege of Tobruk and break the German and Italian forces in North Africa. After tough initial fighting, the British made important gains, only to be countered by a stunning breakthrough overseen personally by Lt. General Erwin Rommel. As the British situation teetered, the commander of the 8th Army, Lt. General Alan Cunningham, was relieved of duty by his superior, General Claude Auchinleck. This decision changed the direction of the battle and perhaps the war itself. Why and how Cunningham was relieved has been the subject of commentary and speculation since it occurred.
Using newly discovered evidence, Alexander Joffe rethinks the events that brought about the sudden relief of the operation's commanding officer, including insubordination. The book then discusses how narratives regarding the operation were created, were incorporated into British and Commonwealth official and unofficial historical writing about the war, and contributed to British historical memory. Based on a decade of archival work, the book presents a new and detailed analysis of a consequential battle and, importantly, of how its history was written and received in the context of post-war Britain.
Most scholars believe that flax was extensively cultivated in southern Levantine and Near Eastern... more Most scholars believe that flax was extensively cultivated in southern Levantine and Near Eastern prehistory and was then replaced by wool from domesticated sheep. This discussion proposes instead that there is no evidence for flax being cultivated at scale. Instead, flax was used for cordage while linen was a specialized fiber used primarily for mortuary and elite purposes during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. A review of Near Eastern evidence also concludes that flax played little role in a ‘Fiber Revolution.’ Experimentation with hair and wool in Syria and Mesopotamia led to industrial scale production by the Uruk period and brought social, economic, and landscape transformations. In the southern Levant, however, the evidence is far more scant. Wool apparently became more important during the third millennium but this discussion hypothesizes that skins, including sheepskins, were the predominant source of clothing.
Transitions during the Early Bronze Age in the Levant, Methodological Problems and Interpretative Perspectives, 2022
Explaining the collapse of the Chalcolithic has been a persistent problem. New evidence has emerg... more Explaining the collapse of the Chalcolithic has been a persistent problem. New evidence has emerged for environmental changes and shifts in resource procurement and technological systems. Ritual failure provides a framework for understanding these and other impacts on a society where religion, sensu lato, was everything.
In I. Shai et al., eds., Tell it in Gath: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Israel. Essays in Honor of A. M. Maeir on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday., 2018
The decision-making process behind the appointment of General Alan Cunningham as High Commissione... more The decision-making process behind the appointment of General Alan Cunningham as High Commissioner of Palestine in November 1945 to replace Field Marshal Lord Gort has been difficult to explain. Cunningham’s record as a failed wartime general and backwater administrative commander were scant preparation for an important political position in Mandatory Palestine. Newly located files indicate Vice Chief of the Imperial Staff Archibald Nye listed Cunningham among a series of possible candidates for consideration by Prime Minister Clement Atlee. Terror attacks in Palestine, American pressure over Jewish refugees, the need to secure additional American loans, and the covert Anglo-French intelligence war in the Middle East, pressured Atlee to make a quick decision. After some confusion Cunningham was selected and Chief of the Imperial General Staff Alan Brooke approved. Haste and personal connections therefore brought about a critical appointment that shaped the end of the Mandate.
... Les archéologues tiennent aujourd'hui compte de manière plus importante de la nature dyn... more ... Les archéologues tiennent aujourd'hui compte de manière plus importante de la nature dynamique de l'ethnicité, fondée d'une part sur les changements internes dus à la tradition et à l'histoire, d'autre part sur les modifications externes d'origine socio-politique et économique. ...
Commenting on the Faust-Finkelstein exchange is rather like being a sportscaster at a chess match... more Commenting on the Faust-Finkelstein exchange is rather like being a sportscaster at a chess match being conducted through the mail. There is limited action, the world moves on between volleys, and in the moment it all ap-pears quite engrossing. At best such matches end in draws, with both sides making useful empirical and theoretical points. To col-legially advance the discussion a sideways approach is in order. In his 2003 piece, Faust suggests that Iron I village sites were abandoned at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the tenth century, were not reoccupied during the Iron II, and that this phenomenon should be explained in terms of the formation of a central Israelite state. Finkelstein disagrees on a number of grounds. He believes Faust is simply following the biblical accounts in his organization of otherwise heterogeneous archaeological data from different regions and methods and that he uses inappropriate analogies and engages in circular reasoning. Faust presents an ...
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Books by Alex Joffe
Using newly discovered evidence, Alexander Joffe rethinks the events that brought about the sudden relief of the operation's commanding officer, including insubordination. The book then discusses how narratives regarding the operation were created, were incorporated into British and Commonwealth official and unofficial historical writing about the war, and contributed to British historical memory. Based on a decade of archival work, the book presents a new and detailed analysis of a consequential battle and, importantly, of how its history was written and received in the context of post-war Britain.
Papers by Alex Joffe
Using newly discovered evidence, Alexander Joffe rethinks the events that brought about the sudden relief of the operation's commanding officer, including insubordination. The book then discusses how narratives regarding the operation were created, were incorporated into British and Commonwealth official and unofficial historical writing about the war, and contributed to British historical memory. Based on a decade of archival work, the book presents a new and detailed analysis of a consequential battle and, importantly, of how its history was written and received in the context of post-war Britain.