Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David
By Lawrence Wright. Alfred A. Knopf, 345 pp, hardcover

For much of living memory, sizable portions of the Fertile Crescent have been awash in blood. There have been religious wars, territorial conflicts, terrorist actions, brutal dictators, and resource-based invasions.

But for almost 35 years, there has been peace between two of the area’s biggest powers, Egypt and Israel. It’s been strained at times, but it has endured—and in Pulitzer Prize–winning author Lawrence Wright’s capable hands, its genesis makes for an amazing story.

In Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David, Wright details the 1978 tripartite summit in a crisp and surprisingly electrifying manner.

A good portion of the book revolves around the psychology of the three men at its centre: U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

Representative of the region’s Abrahamic heritage, the three leaders—one Christian, one Jew, and one Muslim—bring a lot of baggage and preconceptions to the table. Wright masterfully sorts it all out, pulling complicated personalities into clear focus.

Carter, the facilitator—naive but hopeful, fuelled by a belief that he’s on a divine mission; Begin, the obstructionist—intransigent yet practical, with a fierce will to protect his people; and Sadat, the wild card—theatrical, eager for peace, to regain lost territory, and to gain ties to the U.S.

As a whole, Wright’s account has a scope that covers millennia of disputed territory, and rises far above simple character studies or a day-by-day account of the summit. There’s recent history in the mix (the birth of modern Israel, the wars of the 1960s and ’70s), but Wright also weaves in asides on the Old Testament books of Exodus, Joshua, and Judges, providing a textured and evenhanded background. It’s a format that greatly aids in understanding an ancient and very complicated struggle.

It may sound like a lot to take in, but it never feels that way, reading more like a three-man version of Twelve Angry Men than nonfiction (the book, in fact, evolved out of Wright’s work on his play Camp David). But that’s not to say that the narrative takes liberties—it’s heavily footnoted and clearly a work of serious scholarship.

It does feel dramatic, intense, and emotional, though, and it positively hums with the tension shared between the three leaders. Chock full of electricity and excitement, Thirteen Days in September is an amazing accomplishment.