Published by Hourly History in March of 2026.
Hourly History specializes in short biographies and histories that a reader can read in about an hour. They offer free samples every week (whole books!) so I now have several of their e-books on my phone so that I am never without something to read.
To be honest, I didn't pick Golda Meir: A Life from Beginning to End on purpose. It was in my collection and when I was picking a new book to download my fat finger clicked on this book instead of a a different one.
I decided to roll with it - I knew precious little about her except that she was an early example of a woman rising to political leadership of a country in the 20th century and she was one of the founders of modern Israel. Clearly I had plenty left to learn, even if I didn't become an expert on Golda Meir (1898-1978.)
I had assumed that Meir had emigrated to Israel/Palestine from Europe. Indeed, she was born in what is now Ukraine and later lived in what is now Belarus (both were then part of the Russian Empire.) I was surprised to learn that she moved to the United States and lived in New York City, Colorado, and mostly Milwaukee. In Milwaukee, she became an American citizen. Who knew Milwaukee public schools produced a Prime Minister of Israel?
Even when she was in elementary school, Meir was an activist and an organizer. She continued that on her entire life - she joined political discussion groups, became an ardent supporter of the Zionest movement, raised funds through speeches and debates, and eventually moved to British Palestine to start a kibbutz.
She was successful there - no one was more driven, but she was often sent back to the U.S. to raise funds. She became intimately connected with people on the ground in what would become Israel and the people that were supporting the Zionest movement around the world. She literally knew everyone that was imporatant to know in what would become the country of Israel in 1948 so she naturally was involved in its national political scene.
This book creates a picture of a woman who sacrificed a lot of her family life in order to participate in politics, but that is subject to interpretation. I doubt anyone would nominate her for Wife or Mother of the Year, but it was obvious even in her elementary school days that was very much a woman dedicated to public issues and not so much into home life. She and her husband lived most of their married lives as in a state of separation. Most of the men in politics in Israel at the time probably had similar personal lives.
In sum, this was not the most riveting read, but I learned a lot. I rate this short e-book 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Golda Meir: A Life from Beginning to End.
I had assumed that Meir had emigrated to Israel/Palestine from Europe. Indeed, she was born in what is now Ukraine and later lived in what is now Belarus (both were then part of the Russian Empire.) I was surprised to learn that she moved to the United States and lived in New York City, Colorado, and mostly Milwaukee. In Milwaukee, she became an American citizen. Who knew Milwaukee public schools produced a Prime Minister of Israel?
Even when she was in elementary school, Meir was an activist and an organizer. She continued that on her entire life - she joined political discussion groups, became an ardent supporter of the Zionest movement, raised funds through speeches and debates, and eventually moved to British Palestine to start a kibbutz.
 |
| Meir (center) with President Nixon and his wife in 1973. |
This book creates a picture of a woman who sacrificed a lot of her family life in order to participate in politics, but that is subject to interpretation. I doubt anyone would nominate her for Wife or Mother of the Year, but it was obvious even in her elementary school days that was very much a woman dedicated to public issues and not so much into home life. She and her husband lived most of their married lives as in a state of separation. Most of the men in politics in Israel at the time probably had similar personal lives.
In sum, this was not the most riveting read, but I learned a lot. I rate this short e-book 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Golda Meir: A Life from Beginning to End.
