In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “born in baghdad in 1945 and grew up in israel where he did national service from 1964 to 1966”. Today it says “israeli and british historian of iraqi jewish descent”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “born in baghdad in 1945 and grew up in israel where he did national service from 1964 to 1966”. Today it says “israeli and british historian of iraqi jewish descent”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Avi Shlaim was born in Baghdad in 1945 and grew up in Israel where he did national service from 1964 to 1966 . His books include Collusion across the Jordan (winner of the 1988 Political Studies Association's W. The Politics of Partition ( 1990 and 1998 ); War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History ( 1995 ), The Cold War and the Middle East (co-editor, 1997 ), and The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World ( 2001 ). Avi Shlaim is one of those Israeli scholars who call themselves New Historians .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16831388.
The opening as it stood in 2010 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
He is a professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and a fellow of the British Academy .Shlaim is especially well-known as a historian of the Arab-Israeli conflict .He is considered one of the leading New Historians , a group of Israeli scholars who put forward critical interpretations of the history of Zionism and Israel .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 365310644.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
He is emeritus professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and a fellow of the British Academy . Shlaim is considered one of Israel 's New Historians , a group of Israeli scholars who put forward critical interpretations of the history of Zionism and Israel."Israel: The Revised Edition: Two historians offer re-examinations of the Zionist–Arab conflict" .The New York Times .Review of The Iron Wall by Avi Shlaim and Righteous Victims by Benny Morris, with links to the first chapters of each." The New Historiography " in Morris, Benny.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667359170.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Avraham " Avi " Shlaim FBA (born 31 October 1945) is an Israeli historian , Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and fellow of the British Academy . He is one of Israel's New Historians , a group of Israeli scholars who put forward critical interpretations of the history of Zionism and Israel. "Israel: The Revised Edition: Two historians offer re-examinations of the Zionist–Arab conflict" . The New York Times . Review of The Iron Wall by Avi Shlaim and Righteous Victims by Benny Morris, with links to the first chapters of each. " The New Historiography " in Morris, Benny.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 959451456.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Israeli-British historian (born 1945) Avraham " Avi " Shlaim FBA (born 31 October 1945) is an Israeli - British historian , Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and fellow of the British Academy . He is one of Israel's New Historians , a group of Israeli scholars who put forward critical interpretations of the history of Zionism and Israel. "Israel: The Revised Edition: Two historians offer re-examinations of the Zionist–Arab conflict" . The New York Times . Review of The Iron Wall by Avi Shlaim and Righteous Victims by Benny Morris, with links to the first chapters of each. " The New Historiography " in Morris, Benny.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176015101.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Israeli-British historian (born 1945) Avi Shlaim FBA ( Hebrew : אבי שליים , Arabic : أفي شلايم ; born 31 October 1945) is an Israeli and British historian of Iraqi Jewish descent. He is one of Israel's " New Historians ", a group of Israeli scholars who put forward critical interpretations of the history of Zionism and Israel. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) Ethan Bronner (14 November 1999). "Israel: The Revised Edition: Two historians offer re-examinations of the Zionist–Arab conflict" . The New York Times . Review of The Iron Wall by Avi Shlaim and Righteous Victims by Benny Morris, with links to the first chapters of each. " The New Historiography " in Morris, Benny.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296408812. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “born in baghdad in 1945 and grew up in israel where he did national service from 1964 to 1966”. Today it says “israeli and british historian of iraqi jewish descent”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2005 and 2025.
Then
born in baghdad in 1945 and grew up in israel where he did national service from 1964 to 1966
Now
israeli and british historian of iraqi jewish descent
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
