RABIN Our Life, His Legacy

These partisan and occasionally gushy witness-to-history memoirs by the wife of the slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin are read by English actress Claire Bloom with sidebars in the author's voice. Jewish listeners may squirm at some of Bloom's pronunciations of Hebrew words--as in "EAT-sack" for the name of the title character. Otherwise an excellent reader with a beautiful voice, she lends this book appropriate dignity. The tape inadvertently reveals much that the printed book does not about the personality and mind-set of the author. In serving this function, the recording becomes a valuable tool for anyone wishing to understand the turmoil in the Middle East. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 97]