Son of Hamas

I admit that I know very little about the Palestinian/Israeli history and conflict, and what little I do know has probably been influenced by a pro-Israel slant. I find it to be an extremely complicated and confusing issue, so I was intrigued when I came across Mosab Hassan Yousef's memoir, Son of Hamas. Mosab is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas. Once a devout Muslim and member of Hamas, Mosab has converted to Christianity and moved to the U.S. The writing is not spectacular, and the timing of events can be a bit confusing, but his account of his childhood living amongst the violence, his arrest, torture, and imprisonment in an Israeli prison, and his decision to work for Israel's Shin Bet makes for a compelling account. Mosab does a fairly good job of explaining the history of the different Palestinian organizations, the Palestinian side of the conflict, and the attempts for peace. Although his bias does come across occasionally, he does attempt to be fair to both sides. This is certainly not a definitive, unbiased history of this conflict, but it is an interesting story from a very unique perspective.