From 1949 to 2000, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, and Ehud Barak negotiated Israel's successful (and unsuccessful) talks with its Arab neighbors, from the armistice negotiations to Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy, to Camp David I and the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, and finally the Oslo peace process. The stories of the four successful generals who became politicians are told in four separate biographies, covering the early life and military career of each subject, and his subsequent political career. Two other military politicians - Yigal Allon and Ezer Weizman - are covered within these four biographies. An overview of the phenomenon of military politicians in Israel is given and an appendix compares it with similar experiences in South Africa and the United States.