BookLens — See inside before you read

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

A lot

War violence and terrorism; Holocaust atrocities referenced and described; combat throughout

Language

Some

Adult language

Sexual Content

Some

Adult romantic relationships; period-appropriate handling

Substance Use

Barely any

Some alcohol use in the wartime setting

Emotional Intensity

Some

The weight of the Holocaust and its survivors' trauma; the moral complexity of the founding of a nation through conflict

What this book is about

Exodus begins in 1946 with the SS Exodus—a ship carrying 611 Jewish refugees attempting to enter British-controlled Palestine—and spans the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. Uris follows Ari Ben Canaan, a brilliant and driven Palmach officer, and Karen Hansen Clement, a young Holocaust survivor, through the underground resistance, political maneuvering, and the 1948 War of Independence. Uris's sweeping historical novel was enormously influential in shaping Western perception of Israel's founding and remains one of the best-selling novels of the twentieth century.