The Palestine Liberation Organization was created by the Arab states as a weapon against Israel, but most of its victims have been Arabs. In Jordan it established itself as a rival power to the state and was forcibly expelled. Its building up of an army in Lebanon led to civil war and Israeli military intervention until it was again expelled in June 1982.

In 1982 and 1983, the author took herself into the midst of war to write this book, journeying for many days on roads known to be mined and ambushed, spent nights in rooms with glassless windows while shells exploded on all sides, and explored the ruins of PLO strongholds in the wake of bombardments, in order to find documents, testimony, and clues of all kinds to the history of the organization. She interviewed members of the many different sides involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The result is a powerful book which explains the structure, aims, tactics and role in middle eastern and world politics of the PLO.