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ESSENCE OF ISRAEL
More Books
Abraham, A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths
• Bruce Feiler
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2005 •
PAPER
• 256 PAGES
In this follow-up to his remarkable account of a 10,000-mile journey across the Middle East (Walking the Bible), Feiler again mixes travel, history and faith. This time he focuses on the historical Abraham as the father of Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
(MDE79, $12.99) |
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The Access Bible, New Revised Standard Version
• Gail R. O'Day
• David Peterson
RELIGION •
1999 •
PAPER
• 2170 PAGES
A bible is a terrific book to take along to the Holy Land. This one is a "study bible" with features that include an essay introducing each book, extensive and detailed footnotes, and many sidebar essays on topics of interest. It includes 14 very nice color maps of the region, which are referenced in some of the essays. At over 2,000 pages, it's not a small book but worth lugging along for its detailed references to places you will see.
(ISR26, $42.99) |
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Bradt Guide Israel
• Samantha Wilson
GUIDEBOOK •
2012 •
PAPER
• 296 PAGES
A comprehensive guide in the excellent series, noteworthy for its focus on culture, nature and responsible travel. The author includes sights and activities throughout the country.
(ISR67, $25.99) |
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The Case for Israel
• Alan M. Dershowitz
HISTORY •
2004 •
PAPER
• 288 PAGES
Dershowitz, a prominent defense attorney, writes this revisionist history of Israel in the form he knows well -- a legal brief. He begins each chapter with an accusation against Israel, then follows with explaining the truth as he sees it, then attempts to provide proof of his beliefs from the historical record.
(ISR56, $12.95) |
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The Crusades and the Holy Land
• Georges Tate
HISTORY •
1996 •
PAPER
• 192 PAGES
This lavishly-illustrated pocket encyclopedia features maps, archival illustrations and original documents covering the Crusades from both the European and Arab points of view. Includes 132 color and 57 black and white illustrations.
(MDE188, $15.95) |
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From Beirut to Jerusalem
• Thomas L. Friedman
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2006 •
AUDIO CD
A clear, illuminating, and heartfelt exploration of the complexity of the Middle East conflict. Pulitzer Prize-winner Friedman (who reported from Beirut and Jerusalem for the "New York Times" throughout the 1980s, and is now its foreign affairs columnist) provides a personal and a scholarly perspective on the roots of conflict.
(MDE98, $22.95) |
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The Gifts of the Jews
• Thomas Cahill
HISTORY •
1999 •
PAPER
• 304 PAGES
With his usual panache, Cahill brings to life the ancient Hebrews and their contribution to modern life and thought in this second volume on The Making of the Ancient World in the series Hinges of History. He deftly sketches Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Pharaoh, Joshua, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, their world view and significance.
(MDE113, $16.00) |
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Globetrotter Israel Map
• Globetrotter
2010 •
MAP
This fine travel map of Israel and surrounding lands (1:500,000) includes details of Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv and other sites. Two Sides. 39x26 inches.
(ISR30, $8.95) |
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The Hebrew Republic, How Secular Democracy and Global Enterprise Will Bring Israel Peace at Last
• Bernard Avishai
HISTORY •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 290 PAGES
A political economist, gifted writer, and frequent commentator on the Middle East (in outlets ranging from Harper's and the New Yorker to his meticulous blog), Avishai argues that secular democracy and new global enterprises hold the key to transforming Israel's future for the better. He explores in detail the connections between Israel's democratic crisis and the problems besetting the nation, including the expansion of settlements, the alienation of Israeli Arabs, and the exploding ultraorthodox population.
(ISR102, $26.00) |
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Hebrew, A Language Map
• Kristine K. Kershul
LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •
2001 •
PLASTIC CARD
This durable, foldout card, featuring 1,000 words and phrases, works as a quick reference for travelers.
(ISR48, $7.95) |
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The Historical Figure of Jesus
• E.P. Sanders
HISTORY •
1996 •
PAPER
• 337 PAGES
A convincing history of the life of Jesus by a noted biblical scholar. Sanders believes there is much to be said about Jesus that might considered to be fact, and cogently presents the story of his life in mostly chronological fashion. The politics and culture of the day are also discussed in depth. For a no-nonsense history based on contemporary sources as well as the Gospels, this is the book to read.
(ISR27, $17.00) |
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A History of the Arab Peoples
• Albert Hourani
HISTORY •
2010 •
PAPER
• 624 PAGES
Hourani's acclaimed survey ranges over 13 centuries, chronicling the political, spiritual, religious and cultural traditions of the Arab peoples. Noted Islamic scholar Malise Ruthven brings the story up to date, including momentous events from the mid-80s through aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001.This book has been called a landmark and a masterpiece -- and it's essential to understanding the Middle East.
(MDE11, $18.95) |
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The Holocaust Is Over, We Must Rise from Its Ashes
• Avraham Burg
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2009 •
PAPER
• 253 PAGES
The former speaker of the Knesset argues that the Jewish nation has been traumatized -- and has lost the ability to trust itself, its neighbors or the world around it in this stirring account. The son of Holocaust survivors, Burg draws on his own family history to inform his views on how the Jewish people can eventually live in peace and security.
(ISR78, $16.00) |
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How to Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus and the Prophets
• Hela Crown-Tamir
GUIDEBOOK •
2000 •
PAPER
• 195 PAGES
A guide geared for Christian pilgrims to biblical sites in Israel and Jordan by a former guide based in Israel.
(MDE131, $14.95) |
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In the Footsteps of Abraham, The Holy Land in Hand-painted Photographs
• Helen Speelman
• Richard Hardiman
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 384 PAGES
These 174 hand-tinted photographs from the 1920s were selected from the collection of Ari Speelman.
(ISR71, $65.00) |
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In the Steps of the Master
• H.V. Morton
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2002 •
PAPER
• 388 PAGES
An enduring account of rambles in the Holy Land in search of the historical Jesus, originally published 50 years ago. Morton sets out to discover for himself biblical sites, archaeology and, especially, the spiritual resonance of places like Galilee and the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. A pilgrim as much as a traveler, Morton charmingly mixes history with his offhand humor and keen observations.
(ISR43, $17.95) |
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Islam, The Straight Path
• John L. Esposito
RELIGION •
2010 •
PAPER
• 304 PAGES
A well-written survey of the faith, practice and beliefs of Islam. It's a balanced tone intended for an undergraduate audience, yet it also functions as an excellent overview for the general reader.
(MDE22, $49.95) |
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Jerusalem, Caught in Time
• Colin Osman
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 160 PAGES
These well chosen photographs taken between the mid-nineteenth century and World War I, illuminate not just holy places but also archaeological digs, landscapes, architecture and life in the city.
(ISR97, $34.95) |
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Life in Year One, What the World Was Like in First-century Palestine
• Scott Korb
HISTORY •
2011 •
PAPER
• 239 PAGES
With humor and chutzpah, Scott Korb conures daily life in the Holy Land in this short, wittily annotated history. With chapters in money, home, food, hygeine, religion, war and death, the book conludes with a piercing account of Korb's travels from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. He argues that from "simple desires to stay clean and well groomed to our most complicated fears about death and dying," there is nothing deeply and essentially different between who we are now and who we were then.
(MDE182, $15.00) |
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Lonely Planet Middle East
• Lonely Planet
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 684 PAGES
A practical guide to the North African and Mediterranean countries of the Middle East from Libya, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey to Iraq and Iran.
(MDE30, $28.99) |
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National Geographic Atlas of the Middle East
•
REFERENCE •
2008 •
PAPER
• 128 PAGES
This concise collection of maps illustrates the history, politics, people and resources of the Middle East. It covers, in the distinctive National Geographic style, changing boundaries, ethnic and linguistic groups, industries, population growth, military strength and other key themes in the region. With 40 photographs and 80 maps, including a two-page spread on each of the 16 nations from Bahrain to Yemen and city maps of Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Jerusalem and Tehran. Unfortunately, the designers chose to run each political map across the page, which means a significant slice of each country is lost in the gutter.
(MDE71, $21.95) |
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Nine Parts of Desire, The Hidden World of Islamic Women
• Geraldine Brooks
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
1996 •
PAPER
• 256 PAGES
An award-winning journalist, Brooks reports on the women throughout the Islamic world, focusing her wide-ranging interviews on the social, religious and political forces that have shaped their lives. This popular in-depth account is a highly readable overview of the role of women in Islamic society.
(ARB06, $15.00) |
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O Jerusalem
• Dominique Lapierre
• Larry Collins
HISTORY •
2007 •
PAPER
• 635 PAGES
The captivating history of the siege of Jerusalem during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, as told through the personal stories of both Jews and Arabs.
(ISR11, $18.00) |
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Only Yesterday
• Shmuel Yosef Agnon
LITERATURE •
2002 •
PAPER
• 688 PAGES
Israeli Nobel Laureate Agnon's masterpiece here appears in English translation. First published in 1945, the novel tells of a man who immigrates to Palestine at the beginning of the century, when many Jewish idealists were returning to work the Hebrew soil as in Biblical times.
(MDE139, $45.00) |
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A Peace to End All Peace
• David Fromkin
HISTORY •
2009 •
PAPER
• 688 PAGES
The 20th anniversary edition of David Fromkin's vivid tale of the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the making of the modern Middle East -- indispensable to understanding current tensions, shifting alliances and the colonial legacy of the region. Frompkin illuminates the personalities, politics and, above all, the decisions by Britain, France and allies that divvied up the scraps of the Ottoman Empire into modern nations in the wake of WWI. This book has been called the best survey of the early 20th-century background to modern day realities in the region. A new edition.
(ARB13, $22.00) |
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Pimsleur Quick & Simple Arabic (Eastern)
• Pimsleur Language Method
LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •
2005 •
AUDIO CD
An audio CD with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Eastern Arabic, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it."
(ARB69, $19.95) |
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Raid On The Sun, Inside Israel's Secret Campaign that Denied Saddam the Bomb
• Rodger W. Claire
HISTORY •
2005 •
PAPER
• 288 PAGES
Drawing on interviews with the pilots and others, Claire recreates the drama and controversy surrounding Israel's long-sercret air strike on an Iraqi nuclear reactor in June 1981.
(ISR54, $15.99) |
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The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai
• Yehuda Amichai
LITERATURE •
1996 •
PAPER
• 195 PAGES
Amichai, who died in 2000, was one of Israel's greatest poets whose poetry of the everday captures the textures and profundity of ordinary life in Israel in ways that go far beyond the headlines.
(ISR107, $21.95) |
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Seven Pillars of Wisdom, A Triumph
• T.E. Lawrence
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
1991 •
PAPER
• 672 PAGES
The monumental story of Lawrence of Arabia, as colorful and long as the famous movie which it inspired. Some of the action is set around Wadi Rum in Jordan.
(MDE20, $21.00) |
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Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit, Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus
• Jodi Magness
ARCHAEOLOGY •
2011 •
PAPER
• 375 PAGES
An insightful reconstruction of everyday life in Palestine from the mid-first century B.C.E. to 70 C.E. Magness, a professor at UNC and popular study leader, explores everything from dining customs and bathing habits to fasting and burial rituals. Excellent reading for a trip anywhere around the ancient Mediterranean.
(MDE198, $25.00) |
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Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Travel Pack
• Sue Bryant
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 128 PAGES
This pocket guide to the Tel Aviv & Jerusalem includes an excellent full-color pull-out map.
(ISR77, $14.95) |
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Walking the Bible, A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses
• Bruce Feiler
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
2005 •
PAPER
• 416 PAGES
This illuminating account of a 10,000-mile odyssey across the Biblical lands of the Middle East is part travelogue, part pilgrimage, and part quest for religious meaning. Feiler is accompanied by Israeli archaeologist Avner Goren.
(MDE50, $14.99) |
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