History: Peter Kosminsky: Britain's humiliation in Palestine

Rachel Cooke
Peter Kosminsky is one of Britain's most acclaimed directors of hard-hitting television drama. His latest project – 11 years in the making – tells the story of postwar Palestine and Israeli independence through the eyes of a British soldier serving in the territory. It promises to be an event. Between 1945 and 1948, some 100,000 soldiers served in the British-controlled Mandate of Palestine. Kosminsky's team spoke to around 80; he found the men's stories to be both gripping and moving, so he carried on, wading next through letters, diaries, memoirs and history books. Slowly, a theme began to emerge. "The thing that came out most strongly," he says, "was that the men all arrived in Palestine feeling incredibly pro-Jewish..." ... The Promise, which will be screened in four parts, and runs to some seven and a half hours, is the best thing you are likely to see on television this year, if not this decade.
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