This narrative is set in the Middle East shortly before the outbreak of the Six Day War. Thunder in the Negev gives in riveting detail the events that surround Israel's attempt to create a nuclear weapon to be used as a last resort to prevent the Arab nations from pushing her into the sea as they attempted to do in 1948. It follows the lives of these individuals who become swept up in an attempt to steal approximately 10 pounds of uranium from the nuclear facility at Apollo, Pennsylvania during the 1960s. The narrative also describes the involvement of the major characters in an attempt to divert to Israel some 200 tons of "yellow cake," or uranium ore that was on board a freighter in the Atlantic bound for Europe. The account begins shortly after David Ben-Gurion's government orders a facility to be built at Dimona in the Negev desert, ostensibly to produce atomic energy for peaceful purposes under President Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" program. However, a larger reactor than allowed by the Eisenhower program was built there to produce plutonium for use in a nuclear weapon. The nation of Israel was not yet under the nuclear umbrella of the United States, nor was access to a pipeline for conventional weapons readily available and the Prime Minister was certain that Israel would be attacked again by a coalition of Arab nations. By the eve of the Six Day War in 1967, Israel was faced with the threat of annihilation. What could save the nation of Israel from such overwhelming odds? Simons Grebel has some advice for Moishe Dayan, the newly appointed Defense Minister, about how to avoid the use of Israel's two crude nuclear weapons in the impending war. Yitzhak Kahan has some work for Bill Smith in Jericho shortly before war breaks out. How can the Israelis overcome Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nassar's superiority in weaponry and dramatically shorten the war? All of these questions are pertinent to the outcome of the fighting on the Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in the Sinai. See how Thunder in the Negev came dangerously close to being more than just a catch phrase if the nation of Israel had found its very existence threatened. Author Don Eudy weaves the narrative around pertinent historical data to produce a fascinating tale of intrigue, love, betrayal, redemption, and the ultimate test of loyalty during the whirlwind of events that produced the Six Day War, pitting Israel against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.
About the Author: Don Dean Eudy is a veteran educator, having taught at the university level for 39 years. He served in the U. S. Air Force from 1959 to 1963 and was graduated from Southern Arkansas University in 1968 with a BA in history and from the University of Louisiana, Monroe, Louisiana with a MA in history in I971. He and his wife, Ann, have traveled widely in Europe and are the parents of three children and have six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.