WOMAN OF VIOLENCE: Memoirs of a Young Terrorist, 1943-1948

It is almost twenty years since Palestine became the State of Israel. The long, often bloody drama of Israeli independence has been and will doubtless continue to be written about from many points of view and in many languages and styles; to date, however, this is surely the most surreal of all the experiential records. Geula Cohen knew, first hand, the practical differences among the Haganah, the Etsel (Irgun), and the Lechi (""Stern Gang""). As a teenager she left the secure world of home and school and took up the life of the Lechi with total dedication: the end, the great vision, served to justify any means that came to hand. As a broadcaster for the Underground Radio, her voice became known all over the country. Neither the acts of violence in which she was involved, nor her sojourns in prison nor the general hardships of underground life had any great effect on her passion, serving only to increase her scorn for those who took the way of moderation and compromise. Her book has been available for some time in Hebrew and French: Hillel Halkin's English translation shows off its eerie combination of youthful impressionism and age-old ferocity. Like Gerold Frank's The Deed, it casts a little light, yet darkens the countless shadows that still linger over one of history's strangest decades. ""Notes"" at the back of the translation are actually an instructive glossary.