The story of the real Exodus, the legendary ship that became the symbol of the struggle for a Jewish state, is no less fascinating than the work of fiction bearing her name. Jewish survivors of the Holocaust - 4,500 of them - were denied access to what they considered to be their homeland, and after a brutal battle with more than half a dozen British war ships near the coast of Palestine, the survivors were sent back to Europe.

Refusing to disembark, in spite of the generous hospitality offered them by the French government, the Jewish survivors were forcefully expelled to the British-ruled zone in Germany, the charnel house of their people.

The book includes a number of previously undisclosed facts and deals for the first time with lesser known aspects of the affair, such as the role of the American volunteers and the involvement of the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee). It also critically examines the historiography of illegal immigration and the struggle for a Jewish state during the years 1945 to 1948.