Israel Books

Great description of both the sights and the surroundings of all of the different areas of the Holy Land. Provides background to understand the significance, as well as other importance in other times.

A must if you plan on going to any of the historical areas of the Holy Land. Much superior to any of the "name" travel guides, incredible detail and historical perspective.

Very informative with good descriptions. The language is a little difficult to interpret at times and I wish there was a little more history with each site, but overall a great guide.

This book is filled with the knowledge of vast experience and travel. If you want a book that doesn't just give the religiously naive and superstitious what they want to hear (like so many do), then this is your book. Excellent in several ways.

Recommended to me by an archaeolgist long active in Israel, I found this book quite helpful in appreciating a number of sites (and sights) I recently visited (and saw) in the Holy Land. For folks who are looking to learn more about various ancient sites than the typical tour guide can offer, this will be well worth its price. In addition to its being informative, I found the personality of its author evident and engaging.

Began as e-mails back home to family, this book's strength is the description of day-to-day life in Israel through good times and bad. For the book, Gordis intersperses the letters with political commentary to give some context to the letters' time of writing. More personal than David Horovitz' A Little Too Close to God, it is similar in bringing the political and personal together as a family debates the wisdom of staying in Israel when the peace process goes bad. You will get drawn into experiencing the emotions and ambivalences the Gordis parents and children have about their life. Very readable!

I wish there were words to describe how great this book was. It is so hard to find a book about everyday Israeli life. In fact, is there? I saw Rabbi Gordis speak in NYC in 2004, and bought the book after his great speech. When you read this book, you feel like you are actually living in Israel. He describes every emotion he and his family is going through, the good and the bad. He is a great observer of human nature, and good writer. A must read for those you yearn to learn about contemporary life in Israel

I've read hundreds of books on Israel -- internal politics, religious strife, relationships with Palestinians, with neighbors in the Mid-East, with American Jews, with the US Congress, etc. This book covers these same issues, less academically but with a human face. The good and the bad. Gordis writes with passion, but not an agenda. An excellent read for anyone who cares about Israel, especially if you have ever considered living there -- or want to better understand why so many Jews have exchanged the security and prosperity they had in the diaspora for life in the Holy Land.

Home to Stay is a must-read for anyone interested in Israel. It's a moving account of one American family's move to Israel, beautifully written. Rabbi Gordis has a gift for selecting a telling anecdote about family life or a personal observation and relating it to the broader panorama of life in Israel today. I also enthusiatically recommend Rabbi Gordis' previous books, especially "If a Place can make you cry...".

Excellent real story with extreme passion, love and deep understanding. A MUST READ for everyone.
The Jewish State for the Jews, a people so scarified, so much exterminated all over the centuries, in Europe and especially in the Arab world, world that by the beginning of the 20th century decided to exterminate, destroy and kill every single Jews in their countries, destroying as a result communities of 2500 years, reason why these Jews came to Israel our beloved land and home.
Bravo for Daniel Gordis.
BRAVISSIMO !!!!!!

Simply a great book! I loved it, my kids loved it and we cant wait for the sequel. A MUST read for everyone.

The first thing I immediately noticed was the beauty in the illustrations, (I bought the book for the gorgeous cover!) such attention to detail, and the choice of colors is superb! I just wish there was a centerfold to post on the kids bedroom (I may have to contact the artist for that). Most importantly, my kids adored it! What I'd like to know is, will there be a sequel?!

Warm, engaging, magnificently colored pictures accompanied by simple, easy to understand text are sure to delight and entertain even the youngest child while teaching a bit of religious practice. An especially delightful addition to a young child's library.

I loved reading this book and looking at the beautiful pictures with my grandson. It would make a terrific Hanukah gift.

This is a delightful story. The pictures are adorable. It teaches about the importance of generosity and is a great way to share a bedtime story with your child. What a lovely way to see Israel and the Sabbath through a child's eyes.

Judy Lash Balint leaves nothing unsaid. Her diary tells us everything Judy Lash Belint sees just by living in Jerusalem: from the daily terrorist attacks to the water being turned off when she gets back from yet another grueling day of work (in Jerusalem water is rationed and every apartment complex votes on when they will have no water but Judy Lash Balint was not there for the meeting and so did not vote and did not know...) and yet being so tired, no exhausted that never mind she can collapse and sleep without water or a bath or a drink.

And from her we hear what it is like to visit a family right after a horror attack. Vadim was murdered and a Palestinian soaked his hands in his blood and held them up for the cameras of the world to see. Irina his pregnant wife was watching television and saw it all on TV... and when Judy Lash Belint pays a condolence call and Irina says nothing because what is there to say?

And Judy Lash Belint tells us also of the Ethiopian Jews' custom of going up to the Western Wall to celebrate their gratitude for the Torah and she tells us of drinking coffee in a Starbucks and of the regular election debates.

The ordinary and the recognizable intermingle freely in these pages with the horrible and the incredible. It is a book all those who are interested in Israel should read because it tells of one woman's experiences in Israel, in Jerusalem; day by day.

Judy Lash Balint reveals an extremely moving side to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict seldom seen through the cameras of CNN, Sky, the BBC or any other Western media outlet for that matter. Judy Balint reveals the side of a victim long forgotten by the media.

The author presents the oft-ignored story of the innocent Jewish/Israeli victims of the Palestinian terrorist war. The innocent victims whose lives have been shattered and whose bodies have been battered and wounded through gut-less suicide bombings and other terror attacks aimed squarely at babes, children, teenagers, fathers and brothers, sisters and mothers, nearly all of whom have just been going about their daily lives like you or I, with no evil intent or political extremism.

Whilst we have all witnessed the aforementioned media sources devoting whole reports to the plight, claims and circumstances of Palestinian terrorist organisations and even many individual Palestinian suicide attackers, rarely does the Jewish victim receive any publicity, which is why this book is so important.

Judy Balint reveals the story of an Israeli civilian population under siege of Palestinian terrorism, where just visiting a public area such as a café, restaurant, cinema, disco, shopping mall or travelling on a bus is enough to place one's life at risk due to the threat of wholesale, indiscriminate terrorist attacks.

The author's words show the underlying fear and frustration of those who must live under this deliberately imposed horror by a neighbouring population that, through it's leader Yasser Arafat, does not even recognise their very right to exist or their ancient claims to their homeland of Israel.

Reading these words, one can feel what it must be like to have to send your own children of tender years to school in armoured school-buses under escort, never knowing if they will arrive or return safely.

The author's distress is clearly evident when she describes that even after fifty years of Israeli statehood, Israel still has to justify it's existence in a land that has belonged to the Jewish people for thousands of years. A claim to the Land that precedes and predates any Palestinian and indeed any Arab/Moslem claim to the territory. A Jewish claim that extends back through history for some 4,000 years and based upon a Biblical heritage which has yet to be and indeed cannot be rescinded.

Judy Balint provides through 55 essays a fact often quoted elsewhere. That although being unsuccessful on the battlefield in destroying & terrorising the Jewish people, Palestinian/Arab & other terrorist entities can terrorise 1,000 by killing one person and by killing civilians they can terrify people and the public at large far more effectively than when engaged in a full scale war. A fact that we too have since experienced in the West since `September 11th'.

The author's frustration is clearly evident as she passes comment on the moves of various Israeli governments towards peace and the concessions which have brought only more violence. In exchange for land, Israel did not get peace, it got suicide bombers, suicide machine gunners, drive-by terrorists, snipers, mortar bombs, car bombs, fire bombs, grenades, booby traps, explosive packages, remote controlled explosives, forest fires, lynching, and kids bludgeoned to death. Israel also got a few staged arrests and revolving prison doors.

Attention is frustratingly paid here to the indisputably unbalanced coverage of this conflict provided by the BBC/CNN et al., where despite repeated factual and accurate complaints having been made against this principle, basic rules of media objectivity are still ignored. Any reference to Palestinian terrorists being downplayed to the usage of lesser terms of `militants', `extremists' or `activists'. The `T' word being purposely ignored in a conscious decision not to show Palestinian terrorist barbarity.

These views might seem extreme in themselves, but they are deeply felt in isolation by the victims whose plight and the backdrop to Israeli society is at last brought to the written page so adeptly by Judy Balint. This is an essential read for anyone who wishes to truly understand the situation in Israel at this present time.

This is an interesting personal account of what it is like to live in Jerusalem. Written by a Jewish resident. And while the meat of this book is the tale of how Jebusites are dealing with the risks and tragedies, I was most intrigued by the reactions to historical events.

We get to see, on Balint's diary entry for October 6, 2000, that a "sea change" had taken place in Israeli attitudes about the prospects of peace in less than a month. The Israeli public had known that incendiary material fed to Arab schoolchildren was bound to result in violence. But it was surprised to discover the extent to which Arab citizens of Israel supported the same annihilationist goals as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

And we get to see the lack of surprise when the Associated Press routinely reports Israeli self-defence as though it were unprovoked malice.

We also get to see her view of Sharon's defeat of Barak in the 2000 Israeli elections. Sharon won by a landslide, and Balint points out that Barak misread the willingness of the Israeli public to cede parts of Jerusalem. She doesn't even mention the problem of negotiating under fire with a party that will break any agreement anyway and then blame you for it.

Perhaps the most telling remarks the author makes are about the counterproductive manner in which European nations are interfering in the fighting. She explains that European nations fund the textbooks used in the West Bank "that promote hatred of Jews and intolerance of Israel's right to exist." And she shows how Europe donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to marginal Israeli political groups on the extreme left, in hopes of undermining Israeli democracy.

This work is a valuable document. It speaks to truths which the international media systematically ignore, the truths of the sufferings of the Jews of Israel as a result of Arab terror and violence. It in considering what has happened in Israel from the years 1998-2001 Balint shows how the Israeli public is fundamentally a decent, peace- loving one however stigmatized by the world-media. Balint also shows through her encounters with various members of foreign media in Israel how events are distorted to slander Israel and favor the Arab side. In focusing on so much of the reality of Israel which others have ignored she does a real service to the people of Israel, and the cause of fairness and justice.

The author does a phenomenal job of recording events and her feelings about these events during a seige of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel from Nov. 1998 - Dec. 2001. The author fills each page with details of her life and how it transpired, her assessment of the media news, Israeli government positions (some of which she often disagreed with), political changes, the world outlook and news media coverage. She provides descriptions of how the deaths of individuals affected their family, friends, and the community where they lived. Written as diaries, the reader is given a personal viewpoint and feels the helplessness and fear associated with the thought that at any time, from any direction, a bomb could unexpectedly explode forever changing one's life for the worse. At any time, one could be in the midst of a horrible scene where everyday people, carrying out their everyday lives could in a split second be forever maimed or killed because of outside forces, by people who made decisions due to their political positions. One senses and feels the terrible loss of innocent lives and their impact. This is not often well conveyed in the small information bytes of film footage and brief interviews provided on the six o'clock evening news. This book is difficult to read because it is very uncomfortable reading about death, violence and destruction. However, since Sept. 11, 2001 more Americans need to understand there are destructive forces in the world that want to change our way of life. They want to curtail our freedom and revert it into a controlled despotism. They do not care about our Judeo-Christian values and whatever good has occured in the world due to Western values. The problem with creating a separate Palestinian country is unfortunately mixed in with the global problem of Islamic terrorism ... so in that sense what happens in Israel affects us all.

The author states in the beginning of the book she is a committed Zionist and chose to live in Israel during these difficult and historic times. She feels Israel subordinated its sovereignty to the Oslo agreements and she objects to the Wye Memorandam where the exchange of "land for peace" was to be the outcome. The author does not claim to be a neutral observer. She takes a definite stand that since Israel won the war in the 1967, whatever land it obtained due to this victory now belongs to Israel. She cites areas where the PLO violated Oslo agreements and the world does not hold them accountable. She mentions that Palestinians deliberately destroyed Jewish sites such as temples and are uncooperative or make it difficult for Jews to visit tombs of importance. Whether or not one sympathizes with any aspect of the Palestinian's position or problems, there is no doubt that the global issues of terrorism can no longer be separated from their midst. It will take greater minds than mine to analyze the main issues and sort out areas of cooperation and interest on which to build a lasting peace ... However, anyone interested in knowing what it is like to live under a siege of terror will appreciate the descriptions provided by this author. Sorting through some of the Hebrew terms used in the book and reading the Hebrew names of places in Israel was difficult but the author thoughtfully provided a glossary for those unfamiliar with the language. The intent of the author to convey her experiences of living "in tense times" comes through loud and clear. Anyone wanting to understand the realities of living in modern day Israel will want to read this book. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

As a child growing up in the 60's I had the opportunity over the years to know friends and relatives that were holocaust survivors. While as a teenager I couldn't fully appreciate their hardships, it wasn't until Aharon's book "Kaddishel: A Life Reborn" earlier this year that I truly understood, and appreciated the stories, from someone who I've known for many years.

However, as important for me, a middle aged Jew, to undertand his hardship, it's important for the teenagers of today to read and understand.

It's a wonderful and important book for any library.

-Bill Sobel

Kaddishel is a wonderful book that provides 1st person insight into both a less often told side of survival during the holocaust, and the author's experiences in settling of survivors in the budding state of Israel. Many books have been writen about the horrors of the concentration camps, but in Kaddishel, we learn of the different yet equally painful and often fatal challenges that Jews faced in attempting to survive against their enemies in the woods of Poland.

The book follows Aharon Golub's life, from a youth in a happy and comfortable family, through surviving the holocaust by the barest of possible margins, to the founding of the state of Israel, and finally to marrying and establishing a family in America. This book, written by Aharon with support from his son and Kaddishel, Ben, is the amazing story of survival of a man who in most ways is similar to many Americans. It is a story that many of us, our parents or our neighbor's parents may have narrowly avoided, just by the fate of place and date of birth.

Aharon Gobub's story should be read by everyone who has an interest in a compelling, 1st person narration of the most critical events that occurred in Europe and Israel in the middle part of the 20th century. Bravo to Aharon and Bennett Golub for the bravery and effort of retelling and publishing this story for the world to know!

A premier storyteller, Golub draws you in with a fascinating tale of everyday life in 1930s Eastern Europe before plunging you over the abyss of German occupation during World War II. You keep telling yourself, "this is non-fiction"; these are someone's memories, not their imagination!

It is difficult to believe that so many people could be so cruel, so evil, so hateful. Human spirit and compassion prevail and the story follows the author through the creation of Israel and beyond. Historical segments fill in the reader's gaps and provide important background.

This is a story of today. It repeats in Rwanda, in the Caucasuses, and in Serbia. The book will impact your life's desires, your imagination, and ultimately your understanding of mankind and the world.

As someone who grew up with Ben Golub, and knows Aharon Golub personally, I was astonished at the story. While certainly aware of the tip of the iceberg growing up, and knowing that Aharon had an artificial leg, I was completely amazed by the events that Aharon lived through, and how deep the pain was (both literally and figuratively). I found the story especially compelling because it talked about more than the typical concentration camp stories, but shed real light on the plight in Eastern Poland, where some of my own relatives perished. It makes me think about whether they were murdered at the hands of the Germans or others. That is what makes Kaddishel special, is it makes you think without being overly negative all the time. I also found the story about the development of Israel from 1946 through 1954 extraordinary.

In Kaddishel: A Life Reborn, Bennett Golub documents the personal history of his father, Aharon Golub. Bennett's purpose in doing so was to achieve a better understanding of himself and to preserve his father's experiences for the benefit of future generations. In the process, the reader is provided a first-hand account of three major historical aspects of Jewish life in the 20th Century: traditional Jewish life in a Polish town; the horrors of the Nazis occupation and holocaust; and the formation of the state of Israel. Kaddishel: A Life Reborn reveals Aharon's inner strength that even after witnessing the death of his family members, his resolve was not to rage or hate, but rather the formation of a deep conviction that the Jewish people needed their own homeland and the power to protect themselves anywhere in the world if they were to survive anti-Semitism. Aharon's personal journey eventual led him to America where he raised his own family and has his own "Kaddishel" to live on and help him tell his story. Kaddishel is a welcome and recommended contribution to the growing library of holocaust survivor memoirs and biographies.

The idea behind the book is great, but it lacks the satirical bite of The Wandering Jew. As a "realistic" novel it suffers from the fact it has only one source, the Bible

This is another masterpiece from Stefan Heym, the pseudonym for Helmut Flieg. The author is an East German/American Jewish writer, known for his controversial political standing, and as an advocate of "real socialism" he has been a victim of totalitarism and western democracy alike. In "The King David Report," Hyem has retold the old biblical/legendary/historical story of King David. The main character, who personifies the author, is Ethan of Ezra, a wise, truthful man who has been entrusted by King Solomon to write the official version of King David's life and deeds. Ethan is the intellectual who must face the conflicts of time and who is tormented by the limitations which are set to his writing the truth, who soon realizes that learned men are an annoyance to the people and a bother to the servants of the King. To what extent should he expose the truth of King David's life, who setting aside his political glory can also be accused of being a murderer, adulterer, and a machiavellic leader? How does history deal with a King whose only purpose was power, who only loved himself, whose God was made exclusive to himself and justified his crimes in the name of the Holy One? Ethan soon realizes that the outlaw will cover his tracks rather than leave behind accounts of his exploits, and a high price is to be paid by those who are willing to bring forth the truth.

How are we to deal with historical undesirable matter? Tell it all, tell it with discretion, or don't tell it. Heym's intention is to extrapolate the story of King David to events taken place in our recent history, something that comes out quite easily for the reader. But despite oppression, torture, false witnesses, perversion of the facts, plariarism, and the death of the innocent, the author is a positive, optimistic thinker. He believes that it is impossible to entirely divorce history from truth and expect it to remain credible. "As the sun breaks through the clouds, truth will break through words..."

"The King David Report" has a complex structure, a well-documented background, and a clear ironic transparency. It is a well-elaborated piece of literature, which must be seen as a historical novel, a biblical account, and a political satire.

An amazing portrayal of an honest man caught in the forces of a history driven by less-upright minds.

An eminent scholar is asked by King Salomon to write a true - nothing but the truth - biography of his father King David.
The scholar's research reveals a not so quite divine portrait of the late king. It is heavily stained by incest, sodomy, treachery, lechery, manslaughter, bloodbaths and opportunism. In one word, it exposes a satanic character.
King David followed the advice of his counsellor: 'In order to reign you should have but one goal: power, and love only one person: yourself.'
The scholar discovers also some very compromising facts about the present king.

He recognizes all too well that he lives in a split world: 'I do not say what I know; I say what I don't think; I think what I don't say; I want to say what I should not think. I am a dog turning around and around trying to catch a flea on my tail.' 'Truth is the daughter of ill fate.'

His report becomes a tohuwabohu: a rewrite of a rewrite ... until he looses his job.
The king's command of a true biography turns into an order for censure. There should be a yawning abyss between reality and what his subjects should believe: 'Do as I say, not as I do.'

This novel was (and is) an extremely intelligent attack on the 'newspeak' of one party-communist regimes, which wield(ed) complete control of the communications sector.
But the problems it tackled are even more actual and widespread today. Our world is dominated by big media monopolies, which are controlled by the powerful, who in turn control the government. These powerful people are not interested in the truth, only in 'their' truth.
Sabotage or direct liquidation of free objective journalism is rampant all over our planet.

This novel is an extremely clever and magisterial exposure of the all important 'the media and the powerful'-issue.
A must read.

Being the account of the life and times of the Biblical King David, this historical novel, masquerading as an official report from King Solomon's designated historical interpreters, shines a brilliant light on the Biblical David as well as on the process by which fact becomes "historical truth". Imagining the court of King Solomon, a somewhat small-minded, self-seeking, albeit reasonably clever, Near Eastern potentate, Stefan Heym here conjures for us a picture of a reluctant scholar sucked into the maelstrom of politics and revisionism by which governing bureaucracies have historically secured their rule. Called to Jerusalem by King Solomon to help glorify the memory of his father, David, and establish the regime's bona fides, Ethan of Ezra, an actual Biblical personage credited with writing one of the psalms, must seek out the varying threads of King David's life from those who have survived him and meld these with the official records and documents of Solomon's court, all with an eye toward creating a legendary king who will give legitimacy to the rule of the petty tyrant, Solomon. Ethan does this at continued risk to his own life and to what is his, driven by an insatiable desire to ferret out and preserve some semblance of truth. All the while, he must find ways to compromise and get away from the court intrigues in one piece. The King David he discovers is not a particularly lovely specimen of humanity and it is Ethan's challenge to preserve a glimpse of this true David, through the smoke and mirrors of the official history he must write. Satiric and ironic by turns, the tale has one real flaw: its characters, though sharply realized, remain aloof from us, people we see but do not greatly care about. However, the book is so well written otherwise, the ancient world of the Bible so brilliantly evoked, that this deficiency does no harm to the book itself. This one is finely wrought as it lays out a convincing tale of how the Bible we have may actually have come to be and of what must really lie beneath the surface of the confused and folklorish tale of David that has come down to us from its ancient authors.

SWM The King of Vinland's Saga

The four published reviews of this book are rather biased and show that the reviewers did not internalize what the author wrote. They stand in stark contrast to the 7 personal reviews. I couldn't put this book down. In a very personal way the author and his real experiences embody the reality of the co-existence, or lack thereof, in judea and samaria today. Stangely enough, shortly after a friend insisted I read this book I have shared tea with Era in his home and with his neighbors in Turmis Aya that he descibes in the book and to independently hear them tell the same stories he tells in the book.
This book should be required reading for anyone that wants to offer an opinion about the future of Samaria.

Era Rapaport effectively communicates the highs and lowes of being a settler in the land of Israel today. He is a modern day Zionist who gave up a life of comfort to face ridicule, persecution and imprisonment to stay true to his faith in the resettlement of Eretz Israel. I highly recommend this book to all who love Zion and believe in the restoration of Israel.

This book takes what has become a controvertial impersonal topic and turns it into a tale of the human spirit. Era was an the average American. He had the normal life, but he choose to follow the path G-d choose for him. His acts of desperation would be called terrorism by the media, but it is only after reading this book that one understands he was an everday guy defending his family. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a true first hand perspective of life in the West Bank.

Mr. Rapaport's book is one of the few honest accounts of life in Israel today. Unlike reporters who have very little understanding of the complexities of life in Israel, Mr. Rapaport lives in the heart of Israel, and has a great understanding of the problems his country encounters daily. You can't go wrong reading this book.

this book is intriging. it makes you wonder about the other side of the media. letters from tel mond prison is a book written by a man who lives his life with such pupose, meaning and honesty you wonder some times who you feel bad for - the "terrorist" or the "victim"

Everyone with a slight interest in MidEast history and the Arab-Israelis conflict should read it. First part is a mine of historical information about what went-on behind the scenes. The palestinian tragedy and exodus was more a result of dis-unity between the Arabs than supremacy of the Israelis.

While now everyone is refusing to nationalise the palestinian refugees, in the early 50's this was offered in exchange for extra land captured on different fronts. Extra land that was palestinian in theory, but since this became a battle field Palestine ceased to exist.

Second part is a bit slow but never the less of great value.

Highly Recomended to arabs and westerners alike.

I have read this book for like 4 times...and each time i find out something new that i have not noticed before.
Haykal was in a position to get so much information,and he has a way to put such information in a valuble book.

if you are ready to be neutral,then go ahead and but this book cause then you will know the meaning of secret channels.

It is refreshing to find somebody who tells the other side of the story. No wonder the book is out of print.

Like all his other books..this bookof Mr.Haykal..is full of secrets,inner looks,and analysis. Many questions are answered,alot ofopinions are outlined.This book tellsthe story of the peace process,past& present. I highly recommend this book,and urge everybody to buy it.

Mohammed Heikal is the type of journalist whose inner circle of friends includes emperors, kings and heads of states, in addition to lessor, yet very powerful global figures.

With a powerful analytical mind, a penetrating insight and, a fluent pen, Mohamed Heikal draws on his years of deep, deep connections with the most influential to focus our attention on how Palestine was ignominiously sold out by a pack of vain parvenus with Whom the Arab nation had to content with having at the helm of its political destiny.

Secret Channels gives us a stupendous insight into the vanity, narcissism and cowardice of the frail characters that led the Arab nation through an era that will live in infamy for a long, long time to come.

Mohamed Heikal, hated and despised by the dwarfs of his contemporaries, and hailed by the great pears of his caliber, continues to fascinate the reader with graceful literary eloquence, and a sense of appreciation for the entertainment value of the news.

This book is inspirational and packed with wisdom. I feel like I should be able to give this book more than five stars. If you can, get the hardcover Honor Books printing of this book.

Excellent book! I am going to get a Christian book club going and this book is one I want to do. It is a keeper and great book to read over again. The author also recommends many other books too which was great. I agree with another reviewer it is better than a 5!

I can honestly say this book is beyond 5 stars of the rating scale. In this book, Dr. Murdock discusses in detail how Soloman built his $500 billion temple alone. Dr. Murdock also Motivates by talking about the importance of developing a dream, and self confidence to achieve my personal dreams as well. The author cares for your success, and if you read this book, you learn how to achieve true success! Best of all, he uses the most POWERFULL book ever written, God's Law's or simply, the BIBLE, to back up exactly what he writes. All of Dr. Murdock's books are extremly Powerfull, and I would not hesitate to highly recommend them. READ THIS BOOK !

Absolutely awe-inspiring - and I've even had the pleasure of hearing Mike Murdock speak. This is indeed a Masterpiece!

Sometimes less is Best....I can go on about how EXCELLENT this book is...I've read some really good books, and this one is at the top of my list...It has fueled my passion to pursue my dreams. I came to realize from reading this book that I am an uncommon achiever and some of the very same things the author talks about, I have experienced in my life which strengthen me and let me know I'm on the right path. There are so many good and powerful nuggets in this book..I like the one that says "Solomon understood that you can only follow good advice when you recognize that you need it." I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about making changes in your life to be a blessing to the building of The Kingdom in all areas of your life.

Giving this book a 5-star rating isn't enough; I haven't been this affected-- intellectually and emotionally-- by anything I've read in a very long time, so I wish there were some way to reflect the significant difference between an "A" and an "A+," which is what "Struggle for the Holy Land (Arabs, Jews and the Emergence of Israel)," by William Hare, deserves. First published in 1995, this book is more important and timely today than ever before, as it seeks to promote the kind of understanding and a perspective of the Middle East that is so vital if we are ever, in our efforts as a community of Man, going to be able to effect any semblance of global harmony at all.

William Hare writes from the enlightening perspective that merely understanding the issues and current events in the Middle East is not going to bring about a resolution of the problems that are rooted there, and ultimately have a far-reaching effect on all of the nations of the world; these are scholarly pursuits, but ineffective in realizing any real change in the near (or distant) future. Hare points out that what the situation requires is a thorough understanding of the people involved-- the history, culture and psychological aspects of who they are, and most importantly, "why." And he does it by tracing the roots of Zionism and the genesis of Islam, by going back and determining the cause and effects of the attitudes and actions that have brought us to where we are today.

Hare gets to the heart of his subject by offering an objective examination of historically significant events from the perspective of both the Jews', as well as the Arabs' side, and moreover, the effects of one upon the other, as well as how the world powers of specific times influenced that history, including the involvements of the likes of Czarist Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, America and, of course, the devastating effects of Hitler's Germany. It's a comprehensive, cohesive and thorough treatment, with a depth that transcends the achievements of similar attempts by others, and is even more extraordinary when the fact that Hare's analysis covers a period from Biblical times to the present, inclusively, is considered.

What really brings this book to life, however, and what sets it apart from most histories, is the way Hare brings the situations, and especially the people involved, so vibrantly to life. Typically, works of history are rendered in terms of dry academia; Hare, on the other hand, uses the voice of the novelist for his presentation, which makes historic figures like Einstein, Muhammad, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben Gurion, T.E. Lawrence and Harry Truman (to mention just a few) seem larger than life (as, indeed, their respective accomplishments make evident that they were), while affording and investing the reader with intellectual stimulation, as well as the emotional connection that makes this book so thoroughly involving on so many levels.

From the first chapter, which offers some succinct insights into Albert Einstein and his views on and involvement with Zionism, to the final chapter, which concludes with the dramatic depiction of Sir Alan Cunningham, the British high commissioner, presiding over the ceremony marking the end of British rule in Palestine, Hare's account is riveting and stirring in a way that makes history seem like a tangible entity rather than merely words on a page. His approach is similar to that of Shelby Foote, who so successfully brought possibly the darkest period of American History to life in his trilogy "The Civil War." Like Foote, Hare has the ability to "put you in the room," as it were, making you a part of the action rather than just an observer, and his style is tremendously effective, including his use of contemporary frames of reference, like films, to draw comparisons and correlate especially significant events.

A scholarly endeavor executed artistically can be entertaining as well as educational, and this book certainly is all of that; but more than that, it can be important in a way that supersedes any and all of it's most worthwhile considerations. And this book most certainly is that, as well. One of the most engaging and thought-provoking chapters is Hare's emotionally charged account of the Holocaust, which alone takes this book to an even higher level of significance. Like Steven Spielberg's film "Schindler's List," this particular chapter, especially, makes this book important in that it serves to preserve the memory of that which must not be forgotten at any cost; and it is decidedly the efforts of artists and scholars like William Hare and Steven Spielberg that guards against this kind of history repeating itself. And that, in itself, is a remarkable achievement by any form of measurement.

Sensitively and sensibly written and presented, "Struggle for the Holy Land (Arabs, Jews and the Emergence of Israel)" is an entertaining, educational and important book that should be required reading for everyone. William Hare is to be commended for his astute insights into the human condition and his studied and conclusive perceptions of the whys and wherefores of the world in which we live; and hopefully, through his considerable achievements here and the importance of this book, he will receive the kind of acknowledgement he so richly deserves. This is a book that belongs in everyone's library.

"Struggle for the Holy Land" by William Hare is a fulfilling historical narrative for American readers who are interested in the Middle East conflict but are overwhelmed by the deluge of information on the subject. William Hare's work provides an objective introduction to a subject polarized by advocacy. Broadly balanced, it unravels the complexity of the Middle East by elucidating complex personalities that have either influenced or have been influenced by its tragedy.

Starting with Einstein's wrenching emotions over Israel's existence, William Hare skillfully weaves Theodor Herzl's passion for the Zionist movement, David Ben-Gurion's sacrifices in Palestine, and Chaim Weizmann's influence over the British empire in a memorable portrait of struggle for a Jewish home then state. Israel's birth couldn't be better or more objectively presented for the casual historian from the Jewish point-of-view. Arab readers will certainly benefit from this objective portrayal of the people who have influenced the conflict currently affecting many Arab nations.

The book also describes the character of the Arab opposition to Israel through Mohammed Ali and T.E. Lawrence. Apparently targeting Western readers, William Hare selected two personalities who personify both a fighting spirit and sophistication. The poignantly perceptive focus on primarily non-Arabic personalities to represent the Arab point-of-view in the book underscores the reality of Arabs today who are yet powerless to voice their own grievances and concerns. Though the Arab voice remains wanting, Arabs are pained to find a more noble or more relevant representation of character and struggle than through Mohammad Ali and T.E. Lawrence.

Engagingly easy to read, I recommend "Struggle for the Holy Land" to anyone concerned about the history of the Middle East conflict.

In "Struggle for the Holy Land: Arabs, Jews, and the Emergence of Israel", author William Hare provides an in-depth, absorbing, and immaculately researched history of the formation of Israel. The facts are backed up with an extensive bibliography and a through index. Beginning with the roots of Zionism in the late 1800s, Hare explores the major figures involved in the creation of the Jewish state.

The author traces the growth of the Zionist movement following the publication in 1896 of Theodor Herzl's pamphlet "Der Judenstaat" ("The Jewish State: An Attempt at a Modern Solution of the Jewish Question"). The Zionist movement is examined and the philosophical split between Political Zionism and Cultural Zionism split are both discussed. The information regarding the efforts to choose a country other than Palestine is particularly fascinating.

This absorbing book offers an unbiased approach to the historical and sociological factors that contributed to the formation of Israel. The establishment of the Jewish congress in 1897, and contributing factors such as the Russian pogroms, and WWII are included. Major characters and countries are all covered here--Chaim Weizman and his relationship with Britain and Balfour, David Ben-Gurion, and the Peel Commission's decision to create a "partition of Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state." The author also examines how the world tried to cope with the growing unrest in the area--one of the most infamous methods of restricting immigration was the "White Paper Policy" that restricted the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine. Consequently "little death ships" loaded with Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany were turned away without its passengers being allowed to land.

Packed with information, the book yields new insights to an all-too familiar problem. We know how the book will end ... the reader cannot but be aware of the tragic situation and the continuing violence between Israel and Palestine. Yet somehow, in spite of being all too aware of the current situation, the book lends great insights for readers and also a sense of tragic inevitability to one of the most troubled regions of the world--displacedhuman.

William Hare has an extensive background in journalism and interest in world affairs, and it is evident in this book, "Struggle For the Holy Land." Through his investigation, he presents a succinct and thorough report on a complex topic in which solutions to the Arab and Israeli conflict have eluded the world's top leaders. Hare puts the conflict in proper context with an emphasis on the Arab and Israeli leaders who shaped policies generations ago. Particularly compelling are the roles of T.E. Lawrence, David Ben-Gurion and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann. While much has happened since the book was written in 1995, it remains, in my opinion, a definitive look in historical terms. If anything, it explains well the events that led to the bloodshed we see today. I highly recommend it.

This was absolutely the BEST book I have ever read regarding the history of the conflict in Israel. I had been unable to find books about the early history of the area that didn't seem biased toward one point of view or the other. STRUGGLE FOR THE HOLY LAND provides a point of intersection in which the interests and aspirations of each side are carefully evaluated. William Hare is truly a talented author with a gift for presenting complex historical events in a way that even the non-history buff can understand and enjoy. Your only disappointment will be when there are no more pages to read! A rare find!