Sylvia Rafael: The Life and Death of a Mossad Spy and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

List Price: $29.95
Save: $7.21 (24%)

FREE Shipping on orders over $35.

In stock on October 19, 2014.
Order it now.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.

Sign in to turn on 1-click ordering

Trade in your item
Get a $4.53
Gift Card.

Trade in
Learn More

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Sylvia Rafael: The Life and Death of a Mossad Spy (Foreign Military Studies) Hardcover – September 19, 2014

by Ram Oren (Author), Moti Kfir (Author), Shlomo Gazit (Ret.) (Foreword)

7 customer reviews

See all 2 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Amazon Price New from Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$16.17

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$22.74

$18.92

$18.38

Kindle
$16.17 Read with our free app
Hardcover
$22.74 8 Used from $18.38 21 New from $18.92

"There is a lack of quiet in Sylvia that craves for action.... She knows that she is special and that she possesses unusual and varied abilities." -- From the Mossad's psychological evaluation of Sylvia Rafael

When Moti Kfir, head of the Academy for Special Operations of the Mossad, first interviewed Sylvia Rafael in a coffee shop, he knew she would make a great combatant for Israel's intelligence agency. She was outgoing, resourceful, brilliant, and had a talent for bonding with others. When Kfir warned her that the mysterious job they'd met to discuss could be dangerous, she simply sat back comfortably in her chair and smiled.

Sylvia Rafael is the page-turning account of a young, dedicated agent as told by the man who trained her. Drawing on extensive research and interviews, authors Ram Oren and Moti Kfir tell the story of Rafael's rise to prominence within the Mossad and her intelligence work trying to locate Ali Hassan Salameh -- the leader of Palestine's Black September organization and the mastermind behind the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Her team's misidentification of their mark would eventually lead to her arrest and imprisonment for murder and espionage.

Now available in English for the first time, Sylvia Rafael offers new insight into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its history, and its human cost. It is a gripping, authentic spy story about a fearless defender of the Jewish people.

Sylvia Rafael: The Life and Death of a Mossad Spy (Foreign Military Studies)

$22.74 FREE Shipping on orders over $35. In stock on October 19, 2014. Order it now. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Frequently Bought Together

Price for all three: $54.42

Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item: Sylvia Rafael: The Life and Death of a Mossad Spy (Foreign Military Studies) by Ram Oren Hardcover $22.74
Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service by Michael Bar-Zohar Hardcover $19.88
Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas Paperback $11.80

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the …
Michael Bar-Zohar

4.5 out of 5 stars (165)

Hardcover

$19.88
The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice
› Zak Ebrahim

4.7 out of 5 stars (40)

Hardcover

$9.19
Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli …
› George Jonas

4.4 out of 5 stars (111)

Paperback

$11.80
Agent Storm: My Life Inside al Qaeda and …
Morten Storm

4.3 out of 5 stars (18)

Hardcover

$16.45
Spies Against Armageddon: Inside …
› Dan Raviv

4.5 out of 5 stars (127)

Paperback

$13.19
The Mystery of the Shemitah: The …
› Jonathan Cahn

4.7 out of 5 stars (472)

Paperback

$10.40

If you buy a new print edition of this book (or purchased one in the past), you can buy the Kindle Edition for FREE. Print edition purchase must be sold by Amazon. .

Start reading Sylvia Rafael on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product Details

Series: Foreign Military Studies
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky (September 19, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 081314695X
ISBN-13: 978-0813146959
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 5.9 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #20 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > African
- #55 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Middle East
- #59 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > True Crime > Espionage

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A thrilling, engrossing story, fully the equal of action novels. Sylvia Rafael is a welcome and highly readable effort to fill the void in our ordinary knowledge." -- Jonathan M. House, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

About the Author

Ram Oren is an Israeli journalist, publisher, and author of more than twenty-six books.

Moti Kfir held a number of senior positions in the Special Operations Unit of Mossad, including Director of the School for Special Operations. He was awarded a doctorate in history by the Paris Sorbonne.

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Moti Kfir Page

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

(7)

3.9 out of 5 stars

5 star		3
4 star		2
3 star		1
2 star		0
1 star		1

See all 7 customer reviews

Share your thoughts with other customers

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Novel, not Biography

By Amazon Customer on October 9, 2014

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

This biography is a sham! At the end of this biography on page 264, the author writes, "I hope that one day a book will be written about her..." This is not that book, and I emphasize that. This is not a biography, because it does not resemble a biography; it reads like a novel. It is poorly written, it has no footnotes, there is no bibliography, and it has no index. There is no way to check the facts, as you can with almost all biographies. You, the reader, are forced to accept everything at face value, as being accurate. This reads like a novel, with made-up dialogue and thoughts, and it jumps to much from scene to different scene. I was very disappointed in this so-called biography. I have the impression that this is all fiction, with little to no facts. Since the authors are a journalist, and a Mossad retiree, I am not surprised that I found it more novel than anything else. I strongly urge people to avid this fiction.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

For love of Israel and the Jewish People

By Kathy Arndt on October 9, 2014

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

I found the story of a young female Mossad Operative and Combatant compelling! Sylvia's desire to leave the comforts of a good home and promising life to follow her dreams and love affair with the Israeli People resonated with me. The courage to actually do what you think about in your heart is inspirational. Sylvia Rafael was a unique individual that caused most all who came to know her to fall in love with her. I loved reading about the life of a Mossad Agent and how they really had to pretend to be someone else. We all do this in minor ways but those risking their lives must be very good at it. I love Israel and the Jewish Story. I hate the fact that so much of the world seeks to destroy them when all they want is to live in peace. I am humbled by Sylvia's story.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

worth the read

By Christopher W Horn on October 9, 2014

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

Overall the book was good but there were a few times it seemed to skip about, like a page or two were out of order.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Great Israeli Intelligence book

By Amazon Customer on October 9, 2014

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

Really good and interesting. I like how they cover both sides of the story, from Sylvia's and Ali Salameh's lives.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

See all 7 customer reviews (newest first)

Write a customer review

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

Interesting well written book.

Published 4 days ago by Barry Beeber

It's OK

Ms. Rafael's life story is interesting and compelling. So much so that you keep reading despite the juvenile writing style of the author. Read more

Published 9 days ago by psatty

excellent

Wonderful biography of an extraordinary life. A little wordy at times but was an enjoyable & informative read about Israel and the brave people who made it the country it is today.

Published 15 days ago by Lsulli10