Norman Rose’s Weizmann is a clean, thoughtful, and highly readable portrait, an excellent example of what a biography should be.

It’s exactly the kind of work Israel’s first president - the driving force behind the Balfour Declaration and so many other pivotal moments in the country’s history - deserves.

I chose this one over the other respected (and more recent) biography mainly because of its length: the newer volume is nearly twice as long and seems better suited for deeper research, which I’ll certainly return to someday. Despite its somewhat imposing hardcover appearance, Rose’s book is actually a comfortable, mid-sized read.