This is a book dense with detail, as it needs to be since its purpose is to challenge Israel's founding myths. The supporting detail comes from minutes of meetings, government documents, David Ben-Gurion's diary and other memoirs. From these sources Pappe convincingly shows that the expulsion of Palestinians was planned and started well before the British Mandate ended; in fact British troops who were still to be providing for law and order simply ignored the "cleansing" activities. He discusses the public war against the other Arab states that followed the declaration of independence and was simultaneous with continued ethnic cleansing.

The 265 page text (followed by extensive footnotes) is mostly about the period from 1947-49 with occasional excursions into more modern history as it relates. There is also a chapter showing the relation of failed peace processes' relationship to denial of the Nakba. The thick detail not only adds to Pappe's argument, it serves as a sort of "say their name" memory of villages destroyed then covered over with new settlements or national parks.

Published in 2006, it was written at a time when the Nakba was more hidden than it is today after the 400 days of Israeli bombardment of Gaza and now also of Lebanon and the West Bank. A battle claimed as defense yet clearly offensive and under investigation for genocide. A battle whose PR would have us believe it all began on October 7, 2023 when the roots were in 1948.