Middle East Books

I LOVE this book! Having traveled with Eva and Miriam and our happy band of six, all of these memories came flooding back. I'm giving it to family and friends for Christmas. If you know someone who also loves Israel, and may not easily travel there, this is a true gift. Fabulous!
Virelle Kidder, conference speaker and author

I was amazed, opening and flipping through, at how beautiful this book is. The photos and layout are just gorgeous. Digging a little deeper, I was pleased that the book isn't just a history or a Scripture lesson. Finding the history of Israel, written scriptures, personal accounts of Eva Marie's time spent there, married with beautiful photography by Ms. Feinberg Vamosh - what a feast!

This is my new coffee table book, to be picked up and read a bit at a time, when I need a cold, refreshing drink for my soul.

Wonderfully done. Incredible images. Poetic prose.

This is not a book that you will pick up once to look at just the pictures. Soak up Miriam's knowledge. Feel Eva Marie's joy, longing, and elation. No, this is a book that you will pick up over and over and over.

And you will be changed each time. A yearning will begin to stir in you, a yearning to draw closer to God.

Fall into this book and experience God's Holy Land like never before.

The interest of this book goes beyond architecture or urban planning; it places the emergence of a modern city in the context of the wider power relationships of the time (imperial and otherwise). The illustrations and maps are very helpful. A superb resource for not just for those interested in Istanbul, but for anyone trying to understand cultural change in modern Turkey and the Middle East.

Zeynep Celik does an excellent job in summarizing the Ottoman politics in the 19th century and relating the social and economic structure of the empire to Istanbul's architecture and urban planning. The book consists of seven chapters, which include her clear analysis of the regularization of the urban fabric, transportation and some grand schemes proposed by the european architects and planners. She makes references to other european cities, and makes good comparisons for what certain things did/ did not work for the replanning of Istanbul. The book is very easy to read, comprehensive and very illustrative. The maps, diagrams and photographs are very revealing. Great work!

During the 19th Century the imperialist powers of Europe redeveloped their capitals on a grand scale. The Remaking of Istanbul details the attempts of the later Ottoman sultans to apply Western planning principles to their ancient capital in a similar fashion. Celik provides a historical survey describing the disintegration of the regularized Byzantine street network under the Ottomans, and also explains how the placement of mosques, bathes and other public spaces prior to 1800 presented problems in revitalization plans. Transportation issues are given their own chapter, where the inequity of tram service in the old city compared to the new suburbs and Ottoman attempts to regulate ferry service are discussed in detail. Perhaps the most intriguing element of the book is the section devoted to grand schemes which never came to fruition; the scope of the plans, which involve fantastic bridges, expansive squares and broad boulevards, will surprise readers who know modern Istanbul. An architectural historian by training, Celik includes a chapter on architectural pluralism detailing the myriad of styles that appeared in Istanbul during the period and the controversy they caused. The political and economic situation of the Ottoman Empire during the period is repeatedly touched on, and the disparities in wealth and influence between the city's Muslim and Christian populations and the crippling effects of Ottoman concessions to Western concerns are addressed at length. More than just an architectural history or a planning survey, The Remaking of Istanbul tells the story of how the Ottomans, in their rush to modernize their capital along Western lines, would find themselves strangled by the pursestrings of the European nations they had commissioned to carry out the work for them.

With wit and humor Dr. Pellegrino and his companions today led me on the most stirring and provacative tour of my life. Places once disconnected in my mind's eye are now alive, and full of fascination for me: the straight, steady Nile River Valley and its sluggish culture; the now-you-see-them-now-you -don't peoples of the fertile plains of Mesopotamia; and the ancient ancestors, cousins over the centuries from Asia, Africa, and Europe, woven together in the Middle East. The Gulf War, its rising up and falling down, make sense to me now, historically if not humanly, as does the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the cyclic nature of life. Thank you, Charles, for a most interesting and illuminating day.

Dr. Pellegrino welded my eyes, and mind, to his fascinating archaeological journey thorough the Holy Land. I enjoyed reading a book where the author doesn't use religious bias. His knowledge of the Bible is extremely extensive, which combines with his archaeological expertise to produce a book that gives the reader a better understanding, in clearer terms, of the fascinating stories of the Bible. Read this book with an open mind, and read it again once you are done with it. For those who are non-practicing Christians (like me), this book is an excellent companion guide to the Holy Scriptures. Once your mind is saturated in its informative content, you'll want to recomend it to the rest of your friends and family, and just about anyone else you meet from that day on. --Andrés Goyanes--

In addition to very fascinating excursions to Mesopotamia, where the author sends a camera up in a kite to take photos of the scorched lines in the earth left over from what he suspects may by either Sodom or Gomorrah, and the profile of ancient Ninevah including a canal system inside the city walls, Pellegrino takes a moment to let us know that prior to the elimination of coconut oil as an ingredient, Twinkies would burn for 20 minutes, and were a great back up source of light for underground explorations. Now, he makes do with giant Cheetos, held with a tweezers, which will burn for maybe 10 minutes. I tried it, and it's true.

I have learned a great deal on the roots of Egypian politics by reading this book. Currently, the Middle East situation is so that we must all pay heed to the structure of those countries. I apologize for the demanding heading...I did not know what else to write. Botman does, however; this is quality.

This book was rockin...it helped me so much in my comparative politics course, especially when it was time to do my term paper. NOt only was it a good resource though, it really taught me about the middle east background and situation. I think that it's an important book to read whether or not you have to do so for class. Three cheers!

I had to read selections from this for my course at school about Egyptian politics. Actually, I only signed up because I heard the teacher liked hockey players a lot. But I read this book, the entire thing, not just the selections, because I needed to do well on the exam to maintain my GPA, since I'm an athlete. I read this and I got and A on the exam and a B+ in the class. THANK YOU SELMA BOTMAN! I didn't fail because I read the book and I learned a lot of things that I probably would have never known if I hadn't taken this course. I won't be a major in Eygptian politics, but I will at least know what I'm talking about when someone brings up something about MIddle Eastern politics. I GOT AN A! that's nuts. If I can get an A, you can too. Read this book, I swear your Profs will love you for it.

Among various books of Islamic movements that published after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, this book might be the most controversial. The author of this book, Montasser Al-Zayyât gave a reflection about his comrade Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the second command of the contractor turned religious revivalist Osama Bin Laden. Zayyât and Zawâhirî are two Islamists who rose from the underground movement in the post 1967 era. Both Zayyât and Zawâhirî are coming from the middle class of Egypt and have gained professional education and career; Zayyât as a lawyer and Zawâhirî as a medical doctor. They are bounded as comrade in the Islamic political movement after they met firstly in 1981, the time when they were imprisoned suspected of having conspiracy of assassinating the former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Although they did not play a part in the assassination of Sadat, they had have to spend three years in prison as the price of their involvement of the cells and their ideology of toppling Egyptian secular government. Three years time in prison is a significant phase of their life that eventually separating their practical vision; Zayyât chose to be the advocate of da'wah, a society centered movement of Islamism, while Zawâhirî chose to be a jihâd fighter, a state centered of Islamic activism.
Zayyât seems to understand of what he wrote. In the third chapter of this book, for example, Zayyât broadly analyzed the experience of Zawâhirî living in Afghanistan, the place where the ideology of jihâd was crystallized into skills, tactics, and strategies. In this book, Zayyât also differentiated two phases of the experience of Zawâhirî during his life in Afghanistan; the first is Zawâhirî's experience during jihâd against the Soviet before the 1990's; and the second is during Taliban's rule from 1996 to 2001, the time when Taliban demolished by the U.S. military. There was a vacuum period around 1992-1995 in which the Arab-Afghans like Zawâhirî had had to step out from Afghanistan. Sibghatullah Mujadadi, the interim president for the mujâhideen government of Afghanistan wanted the Arab-Afghans to go back to their home countries because their mission of wiping out Soviet's power in Afghanistan accomplished. However, this decision could not easily be accepted by the Arab-Afghans because the government of their home countries would not accept their return as free citizens. In the case of Egypt, Zawâhirî says: "Egypt had already started taking security measures against the Arab-Afghans by trying them before military courts in absentia and issuing harsh sentences, including death sentences for the elite of the Arab-Afghans, as well as sentences of life imprisonments for others (55). In this unpredicted situation, thousands veteran of Afghanistan war were in the state of uncertainty. Some of Arab-Afghans who succeed to return to their county, for example the Algerian-Afghan, because of their confidence after demolishing Soviet's power, had actively engage in attacking the Algerian government. Some others who could not even step into their countries had had to live in the foreign countries, some of them as the illegal citizens. It is in this situation that the generous help of Osama bin Laden and the strong leadership of Zawâhirî became a combination of power that highly applauded by the Arab-Afghans.
Osama bin Laden is a generous sheikh who rendered in providing a place to stay for the homeless Arab-Afgans in his military camp in Sudan. At this time, Sudan is the nirvana of the ex-mujâhideen because only in Sudan that the government were pleased to cooperate with the Islamist leaders. Thousands of the veterans of Afghanistan jihâd decided to join Osama bin Laden in Sudan after being spy on by their government. Their decision to enter Sudan was continuously followed by thousands others veterans until Taliban gained their power in Afghanistan. After Taliban took over the government of Afghanistan, Zawâhirî and Osma bin Laden returned to Afganistan and told thousands veterans to follow them. However, Afghanistan that ninety five percent of its land was controlled by Taliban was no longer a fascinating land of jihâd. Under Taliban rule, the Arab-Afghans who reentered Afghanistan were not forced to join Taliban to fight other Afghan factions. In Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden and Zawâhirî more concerned to organize the jihâd to outside of Afghanistan, rather than to fight with the other mujâhideen. At this period of time, Afghanistan really became the base of Al-Qaeda in its true meaning.
In his second phase of living in Afghanistan, Zawâhirî was more active in organizing his cadre of Islamic Jihâd to topple the Egyptian government. His friendship with the salafî contractor, Osama bin Laden, to a certain extent, had broaden his objectives and goals, from a domestic jihâd inside Egyptian border, to be a borderless international jihâd against the global enemy. It is not clear in this book how Zawâhirî became more radical and interested in a direct attack to the U.S. and its interests. Zayyât and some other experts on this issue believed that Osama was the one who brain washed Zawâhirî's mind. In this book, Zayyât commented Zawâhirî's articles in the Islamic Jihâd publication during the year of 1997 that are entitled "America and the Issue of Jihad on Jews in Cairo" and "America and the Illusion of Power." In these two articles, Zawâhirî showed his new concern to hit the U.S. regardless its strength as the only superpower on earth. Zayyât mentioned there are at least eight reasons why Zawâhirî radically changed his mind. One of the reasons, according to Zayyât, is the failure of their internal actions in Egypt. In addition to that reason, the capture of many of jihâdî members shake the Islamic Jihâd movement and finally it required alliance with the more stable organization both in term of financial and structure. Finally, Zawâhirî decided to merge the Islamic Jihâd with Osama bin Laden and they created the so-called movement "the International Islamic Front for Jihâd on the Jews and Crusaders" (64-70).
In my view, as a reader of contemporary Islamic movements, Zayyât missed several key points that are very significant to understand the setting and the idea behind the movements. Zayyât, as an insider of the Islamic movements, failed to inform his audience how the jihâd movements that is basically try to restore the ideal form of ummah as a response of modern challenge of social life, has been turned to be the so-called terrorist movements that haunted Western world. To say in the explicit words, this book is so weak in clearing up the radicalization process of the Arab-Afghans who are in the situation of culdesac after the mission of jihâd against Soviet is accomplished, but cannot go back to their normal life in their home countries, and finally find the way to continue the desire of jihâd by attacking American interests around the world. Zayyât seemed to be not interested in searching the link between the radicalization of the Islamists and the continuous repression of Arab or Muslim countries under auspices of the United States as the only super power on earth. What Zayyât wrote in this book is more about his experience of knowing Zawâhirî and his concern to respond Zawâhirî's criticisms in the book entitled "Knight Under The Prophet's Banner" against his peace initiative, rather than showing off his challenging vision of modernist Islam. It is true that in the chapter eight, Zayyât slightly revealed his modernist views by highlighting the mistakes of Zawâhirî that caused all Islamist, whether they are the member of Al-Qaeda or not, had paid the mistakes. He also criticized several conditions of his fellow Islamists such as fossilization of mind, imitation of the past, and the lack of ijtihâd. However, Zayyât's languages of criticism are nothing new to the consciousness of Muslim masses. In this pocket size book, Zayyât spent three pages to marshal the visions of the salafî intellectuals from Jamal al-Din al-Afghânî, Rashid Ridha, Hassan Al-Bana to Sayyid Qutb. However, he still unable to crystallize their ideas into a new vision that at least will give a confident to Muslim masses to wrestle with the multitude of problems of modernity and the world's advanced capitalist challenges today. Zayyât, in this period of time, seemed to understand that Islamic vision that is still using the old pattern of the early post-colonial era, such as establishing shari'a, is not a ready made-solution. At the same time, he also realized that the social conditions of Muslims that is disunited, is one of the reasons why Muslims cannot transform themselves into an ideal society.
Zayyât convinced that building peace and signing the agreement of cease-fire between Islamists and Egyptian government is the only possible way to heal the wounded Muslims today. His criticism of the use of violence by his fellow Islamists like Zawâhirî and the Islamic Jihâd's members that caused thousands loss their lives is a great effort that paved a new basic of dialog between the Islamist vision and the modern vision of society. "The type of dialog that Al-Qaeda used with the media must be avoided," he said. "So too should we abandoned the approach of bin Lâden and Zawâhirî in which the main objective is to administer as much harm to the United States as possible," he added (112). In this book, Zayyât wanted to differentiate and to distinguish in term of ideology and practical action between Al-Qaeda and other Islamists who are not interested in violence and in attacking American interests. From the whole explanation on this book, he intensely wanted to show that aim and he seemed success to do so.

Also available in a hardcover edition (0745321763, $65.00) The Road To Al-Qaeda: The Story Of Bin Laden's Right-hand Man by Montasser Al-Zayyat is the biography of one of the world's most-wanted terrorists -- Ayman al-Zawahiri. An Egyptian, Ayman was identified as the man to take over the leadership of Al-Qaeda after the death or incapacitation of Osama bin Laden. Since the September 11 attacks, Ayman is also the reputed architect of the Riyadh bombings in Saudi Arabia. Enhanced with an extensive introduction from the distinguished Islamic scholar Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi, The Road To Al-Qaeda provides western readers with critically important insights into the tensions between violent and non-violent factions within radical Islamist movements. No contemporary Islamic Studies collection can be considered complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of The Road To Al-Qaeda.

By rendering this book into English, Ahmed Fekry and Sarah Nimis have done a tremendous service for anyone seeking more insight into international terrorism than she can get from a talking head on the evening news.

Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi3's introduction, though a bit meandering, provides useful background and presents interesting questions.

Highly recommended.

This book will appeal to two kinds of people: those who have engineering or technical backgrounds, and those who don't. My wife is in the second category. She found the history and details of the water supply gave a fascinating window into ordinary life in Roman times. The problem that every civilization must solve, obtaining and distributing potable water, solved in a characteristically Roman manner by efficient public construction.

As an engineer, I became fascinated with the technical knowledge and skills demonstrated. Both civil engineering and hydraulic engineering expertise, achieving fine results with crude instruments. We marvel at Roman stonework, but keeping a constant slope over several kilometers is more technically difficult.

I found that much of what one knows about aqueducts isn't true. Siphons to cross valleys, instead of more costly and difficult bridges. Manholes at frequent intervals, for manually cleaning out limestone deposits, the bane of the system. Concrete and polished hydraulic cement. Who knew?

While the topics are technical, the writing is clear and self-explanatory, and the text is profusely illustrated. As long as you remember that water runs downhill, you'll be technically comfortable. The text follows the downhill flow of the water through the system, from the lakes or springs, to the cities, to the baths and fountains, to the sewers.

My major complaint is poor availability. Despite Amazon's current (August '05) "normally 3 to 5 weeks" to ship, I've now waited over 30 days for my second copy, and have been advised of at least another 30 day delay. My emailed enquiry to the publisher went unanswered.

I want to share this book with friends, but not my copy. "There are two kinds of fools: those who lend books, and those who return them." So, order yours now. Maybe you'll get it by Christmas. Enjoy!

After reading "Pompeii: A Novel" (Robert Harris) I was keen to read more on the details of the aqueducts that starred in Harris' book and found this book.

If you've even wondered "how did they do it" then this book will tell you. While sometimes a little lacking in punctuation the book flows well and is well illustrated.

I was certainly left with a renewed respect for the Roman engineers after reading this.

And apart from the engineering it gives you an insight into a completely different cultural perspective. Hodge makes the case that, contrary to popular belief, the aqueducts were primarily for what we might view as an extravagance given the cost - public & private baths and water features.

I bought this book because it was one of the few recommended books about aqueducts to be recommended to me for my writing about Ancient Rome. I have no engineering experience, but found the book to be very easy to follow and enjoyable to read.

All the questions I had about aqueducts were answered in this book and it gave me more than enough information on the subject.

I wish my history professors in college would have used sections of this book during the discussions on aqueducts because we were taught so little about these engineering miracles.

This is book about political CORRUPTION and how Shah was modernizing Iran.
A good job and well done research.

Bravo

The nuclear ambitions of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and its growing influence amongst certain Shi'a factions in Iraq is attracting media attention to a degree not seen since the late 1970s. Nevertheless, since 1979 the IRI has remained consistent in its determination to become the dominant political/ideological force in the Middle East and Persian Gulf. The clerics sitting in Tehran and their golden boy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, repeatedly make clear to the world that they will not abandon the Ayatollah Khomeini's vision of an Islamic world state. Millions of Iranians have been sacrificed for this vision, and the mullahs who rule them will not hesitate to sacrifice a million more. Iran is notorious for taking hostages. Ironically, however, the largest group being held hostage there are the Iranian people themselves.

"Iran Zamin" is a pen name chosen most wisely and appropriately by the author of this book, ROMANTICISM and REVIVALISM Of PURE DIVINE MOTHERLAND Of IRAN. "Iran Zamin" is a term often used in recalling the ancient and noble glory of the pre-Islamic empires of "Greater Iran." And this book's author is undoubtedly a true Iranian patriot, who not only passionately loves his country, but is one who deeply cares for its people. Iran Zamin writes not only to preserve his Persian heritage and culture but also to shout a WAKE UP! call to his long-suffering fellow Iranians. He writes to remind them that before there was the Arab Muhammed and his religion of Islam, there was the Iran of the Sassanids, and before that, of the Achaemenids. Zoroaster, Cyrus and Darius are their true forefathers, men recognized by history as some of the greatest influences upon world civilization. Such men were not only considered builders and innovators, but more importantly were men who championed righteousness and compassion. Zamin is one of the few Iranian writers who have the honest courage to say that the Persian legacy means nothing to the mullahs ruling Iran. Indeed, he cleverly points out that the family origins of the father of the Islamic Republic, the Ayatollah Khomeini himself, are not Iranian but Indian! As Zamin notes, the IRI seeks world power not for any nationalist interests, but instead uses Iran merely as base from which it plans to spread forth a truly Shi'a world state.

The ancient and noble origins of Iran aren't the only major themes of Zamin's book. Rather it is primarily concerned with the present and looks toward the future. Thus the writer devotes much time to the disgraceful treatment done to the legacy of Shah Reza Muhammad I Pahlavi.

Portrayed as a slavish puppet of American foreign policy on the one hand, and as a selfish and cruel despot on the the other, the Shah, Zamin points out, has to be the most misunderstood and slandered figure of late 20th Century history. He shows us that this was the man who worked hardest to bring social and economic progress to Iran, turning that nation into one of the strongest and most advanced in the Middle East. It was the Shah's "White Revolution" (distinguished from the "red" of the Communists, and the "black" of the clerics) that brought land reform, religious freedom, widespread free education, and women's suffrage and social equality. All of which, by the way, were vehemently despised and vigorously opposed by the Muslim clerical establishment. In truth, Zamin isn't the only one who noticed the Shah's reluctance to brutality, nor is he alone in holding the western media and former American president Jimmy Carter directly responsible for the Shah of Iran's downfall.

Another important aspect of the Shah of Iran's reign was his vital role as a peacekeeper in the Persian Gulf. Zamin compares the relative stability of the region during Pahlavi rule with the chaotic mess it has become after the Shah was overthrown. He makes it plain that Saddam Hussein was intimidated by the efficiency and strength of Imperial Iran's military - especially its crack air force (for more on the Shah of Iran read "Ahmad Kasvravi Tabrizi's" The OTHER SIDE Of The STORY).

Iran Zamin finishes this book by discussing the Iranian theocracy's clerical elite, considering them to be the most corrupt and venal bureaucrats and politicos existing today. He concentrates mostly on the notorious former president of the IRI, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the mullah once listed by Forbes Magazine to be one of the richest men in the world. In Zamin's eyes Rafsanjani epitomizes the hypocritical and parasitical cleric growing ever fatter off Iran's wealth, while the people face skyrocketing inflation and unemployment, and have to suffer to see sons addicted and daughters forced through desperation to sell their kidneys as well as their sex.

Beyond his well-known Hezbollah connections and the embarrassing criminal charges being held against him by Argentine authorities for his involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center, Zamin also exposes Rafsanjani's financial dealings in Canada, specifically his investments in Toronto's toll Highway 407. It enrages Zamin (as it should all of us) that this convicted terrorist, wanted man, and stereotypical fatcat is making profits here in North America, just over our border.

Iran Zamin's book not only informs and educates, it also emotionally involves you into the sad and desperate situation of one of the oldest and greatest nations on this earth.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1EE2BMG54HFQR This book brought forward extensive legal documents that how Canada is harboring terrorism by providing Canada as an economic base for Mullah/cleric RAFSANJANI who is a key figure of Hizbollah terrorist group and this Hizbollah terrorist group is banned in Canada.

This book mentioned how former US Democrat President CARTER poor policy and executing Machaivelli doctrines in Iran gave birth to Trojan-Horse Era and has brought the world to point of destruction. In addition, the book discussed role of King in Iran's political culture point of view and how His Majesty Just and Benevolent King of Kings Mohammad Reza PAHLAVI executed Education of Cyrus in Iran which was the White Revolution. Thus, the frame work or theory of this book is incepted on Education of Cyrus.

Last point, the book mentioned the theology state in Iran is in point of collapse and Iranian people must be unify in their cause to topple the theology state in Iran.

And as a reader is reading this book, the author is romanticising about Iran and reviving Iran's true spirit as the cover pray is integrated in the content of the book.

There is a mistake in the 1st review- the girl's name is Kinneret, not Nava. please correct it.

This story broke my heart. I could not put this book down until I read the whole story. I am amazed at what this child had to go through before someone recognized that she was dyslexic and needed help in order to learn to read. It made me wish that every child had a place they could go where they felt safe and cared about, where no one would make fun of them because they could not read or write or do math, skills that most children take for granted. It made me realize that schools should provide every child a place to go where they felt safe and cared about, a place such as the resource room and teacher as described in this story. It also made me realize how important it is that teachers learn to recognize signs of dyslexia in children in their classrooms and bring it to the attention of appropriate school personnel. This is a wonderful book that I would highly recommend for teachers, parents, and educational/school psychologists to read.

The Safe Place,written by Tehila Peterseil,is about a young girl named Nava who has problems with learning. Her parents first have no idea what's wrong with her. Finally they realize the solution is for her to receive special educatioon. This book, which Tehila Peterseil kindly dedicates to every "Nava" around the world, will touch your heart and nourish your soul even after the last page is turned.

Although the project was supposed to last only a few months, Asahi shimbun were absolutely deluged with responses and they eventually printed 1,000 out of 4,000 letters received. Not only does the book give the reader a personal glimpse of what it was like to be a foot soldier, housewife, high school teacher, etc.,it is also organized in a way that details the events of the war from the first settlements in Manchuria to the occupation and even how people feel about their role today. It's a great way to get the full chronology of events as well as all the personal depictions.

I was shocked at how the footsoldiers were treated by the officers and was surprised to read tales of killing superiors in battle, much like "fragging" occurrences in the Vietnam war. Throughout the book there are gut-wrenching stories of combat, but there is also an underlying thread of humanity; officers finding ways to keep their soldiers alive, a vacationing zero pilot who convinces a group of admiring boys not to join the military, a young soldier who secretly puts some of the bones and ashes of other soldiers into the empty boxes so the families have something to pray to.

I sat down to read the first chapter at 6 pm but I couldn't put it down. I finished it at 2 am. My best friend teaches high school history and I'm going to copy off a few of the best stories for him to use in class. This is a must read... for anyone.

This book does a great service in helping us see the Japanese in WW2 as more than mindless fanatics.It is an compilation of letters written to the editors of one of Japans largest newspapers, the Asahi ("Morning Sun")Shimbun during the 50th anniversary commemorations of the end of World War 2.The stories are primarily from military participants or family members of military personnel and most are very frank and gut wrenching. I got the sense that many of the ex military men were trying to come to grips as to why they were fighting- and the answers are not what this American reader has come to expect. I have always thought that the Japanese were brain washed sub-human fanatics when it came to fighting, but many of the stories reveal compassion,caring and a full awareness of the situation they were in. They speak of heartless, cruel and inhuman superior officers who thought nothing of leading entire battalions to death in their quest for glory, but they also realize that these officers were just the products of a military system where cruel treatment of recruits was a tool to instill blind obedience to superior officers. I still don't think that this is a good excuse for the many atrocities that were committed by Japanese forces during the war, but it goes alot farther in helping me to understand how such atrocities,e.g., Rape of Nanking, Bataan death march, arose. The letters from family members are particularly poignant as they recall fathers, brothers, uncles and sons who were never seen again.I was very moved by several letters from family members who had childhood memories of the deceased soldiers that really drove the point home that war is such a terrible waste(hate to sound like a cliche). The Japanese lost more than 2 million people during the war, and it would be hard not to find a family that didn't face tragedy. I gave this book to several friends who said it completely opened up their minds about what they thought about the Japanese during World War 2.While we all agree that Japan was not right for its war of aggression and the pain and suffering it caused to millions of Asians, Americans, British,Dutch and Australians, we can now hear for the first time the voices of the Japanese participants and learn that they too cried and suffered and felt deep guilt for what they did.

The first shocking chapters of this book give us a picture of a military culture whose sadistic norms were so out of control that it's almost incomprehensible. Sometimes I wonder if the allies did Japanese soldiers a favor by killing them so they could escape an army with an absolutely sick sense of discipline. One soldier wonders how many trainees committed suicide to escape punishment: just for breaking a firepin on a rifle! On Japan's surrender, an army nurse recalls soldiers turning on and beating officers who were screaming, "Forgive me, forgive me". Another soldier remembers suffering trainees whispering, "Bullets come from behind in a battlefield". I grew up hearing Korean stories about Japanese abuse that I never thought to be true until now.

It's certainly not surprising that such an army of the walking dead would commit atrocities as a norm rather than as an exception. One story recalls using prisoners as targets for new recruits who were so scared that their bayonets were shaking. He recounts how they drew a red circle around the prisoners' heart, not as a target, but as the one place you were NOT allowed to stab so the prisoners would suffer as long as possible. Many of the tales of wartime heroism are simply acts of decency in defiance of unspeakably cruel punishment.

Was such ferocious sadism unique to Japan, or does this teach us about other great cultures as well? Many admire the samurai, the Zulu, the Spartans and other great warriors reknown for superhuman conduct. Perhaps this sadism is the cost of such greatness - the natural reaction of humans being held to an inhuman standard?

Nevertheless, as the war drags on and unrealistic notions of superiority fade, the stories inevitably become more human and share much more in common with the horrible sufferings of all people from war. It was a war where both the innocent and guilty suffered from the fanaticism of the strong.

The editors reveal that they did not publish articles that were simply long nationalistic rants. Interestingly enough, this coincides with the fact that almost no articles were written by or defended those who perpertrated this plague of barbarism. It may very well be that the anti-war bias of the editors has robbed us of a look into the psychology that gives birth to atrocity.

One read this stirring story, from cover to cover, at one enthralling sitting. The tender love story enfolds, with many surprises, over a period of 40 years in parallel with the development of the nascent state of Israel. The narrative is extremely well plotted and beautifully written; the inclusion of letters and poems adds greatly to the interest and allows the reader a rare insight into the inner world of the lovers.
A joy to read! Heartily recommended!

I got such a kick from reading this book. Very different from the usual love affair genre. The plot is set in young naive Israel of the 1950's, taking place in Tel Aviv-Jerusalem-Haifa, the characters so differ from stereotype novel lovers... And that exchange of letters!! I intend violating copyright laws and to communicate some of those texts to my wife :)
Don't miss this good read.

Ruth Borman captures the reader's attention with the exciting life of Ronni, a young Israeli sabra, who is in her early twenties. She will be discharged from the Israeli Defense Forces in a few weeks and looks forward to being a civilian again. She is recovering from a painful love affair and is anticipating her new job as teacher at an elementary school. She was lucky to receive impeccable references and to snare this coveted position. After returning home one night from a friend's wedding, Ronni is surprised to discover a stranger, a handsome Israeli lawyer, Gabriel Zadok, waiting to meet her.

Gabriel is an enigma, a Marcello Mastroianni look alike, who has a regal bearing, charming smile, and speaks to Ronni as if he knew her all her life. His preconceived notions about what she is like creates both intrigue and tension within their relationship. They clash in so many ways ... yet ... Ronni ends up sharing a late-night rendevous at a pizzeria and an intimate walk on the beach with him. To her surprise, they had more in common than she realized: both grew up in Haifa, attended the same schools, and even lived within the same general neighborhood, although they have a seven year age gap. After a blazing and satisfying love affair filled with upheavals: Gabriel drops a bomb. Out of the clear blue, he shockingly breaks off their "unofficial" engagement. It is due to a valid reason one which makes him look like a martyr, a saint. The reader will be amazed to discover what it is. The author's creativity and genius shine. Her imagination went into overdrive

In this book, the author explores the depths of the man-woman relationship with creativity, clarity, imagination, sensitivity, heated emotions and passion. These two young Israelis from very different social backgrounds meet, clash, collide and then fall in love. They engage in a torrid love affair that is suddenly broken off. They live parallel lives and meet forty years later, to answer the age old question, can they resolve, make peace with the deep and everlasting pain which caused their breakup?

After the breakup, Ronni was devasted, moved to London and married Mike Evans, a warm and gentle soul with a solid reliable profession: cardiac surgeon. Within seven years, they had three children. Gabriel became ancient history, a distant memory, some of which she shared with Mike. They moved back to Israel after Mike received an appointment to teach in the Medical School at Hebrew University. Is it coincidence, chance or fate? Gabriel Zadok also taught at Hebrew University but as faculty in the Law School. Although they all lived in Jerusalem, many years passed before they met. It was forty years after the burning love affair that Ronni got stuck at the airport in Zurich. Who should happen to pass by and offer her help but Gabriel Zadok! They had dinner and he offered her his hotel room to freshen up. Guess what happened next! He was filled with impassioned pleas, explaining and justifying his breaking off their relationship so long ago. What is more - he wanted her back. However, despite this one unforgettable enigmatic night, she could not shatter her stable life to take up where they left off. Again, they resumed their parallell lives ...until ...they met again.

This time it was her husband Mike who inadvertently brought Gabriel Zadok back into Ronni's life. Mike participated in a multi-disciplinary symposium at Hebrew University that included the law faculty and Gabriel. Amazingly, Mike and Gabriel met and liked one another! Ruth Borman writes "days of grace followed" yet it was a "controlled storm". Recovering from the shattered love affair of forty years ago, Ronni was able to reconcile the disparate parts of her past ...until again ... fate or G-d struck the final and ultimate blow. Ronni had to say her last good-bye to Gabriel which was through a letter, one of their most initmate means of communication. This book tackles a very complex subject and probes the heart, mind, and emotions of its characters revealing many winding paths and deeply complicated layers. It is truly among the best love stories I have ever read. The author has a great understanding of human nature which she demonstrates on each and every page of this book. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]