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The Israelis

Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land (Updated in 2008)

LIST PRICE $14.99

About The Book

"A panorama of Israeli diversity" (Los Angeles Times) this is a vibrant, internationally acclaimed portrait of contemporary Israeli society.

Israel is smaller than New Jersey, with 0.11% of the world's population, yet captures a lion's share of headlines. It looks like one country on CNN, a very different one on al-Jazeera. The BBC has their version, The New York Times theirs. But how does Israel look to Israelis? The answers are varied, and they have been brought together here in one of the most original books about Israel in decades.

From battlefields to bedrooms to boardrooms, discover the colliding worlds in which an astounding mix of 7.2 million devoutly traditional and radically modern people live. You'll meet “Arab Jews” who fled Islamic countries, dreadlock-wearing Ethiopian immigrants who sing reggae in Hebrew, Christians in Nazareth who publish an Arabic-style Cosmo, young Israeli Muslims who know more about Judaism than most Jews of the Diaspora, ultra-Orthodox Jews on “Modesty Patrols,” and more.

Interweaving hundreds of personal stories with intriguing new research, The Israelis is lively, irreverent, and always fascinating.

About The Author

Donna Rosenthal is the author of the award-winning The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land. Called the best book about Israelis in decades, The Israelis has more than 100 excellent international reviews across the religious and political spectrums: from the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post to The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz to The Japan Times. Ms. Rosenthal has taught journalism at three universities. She holds a BA from University of California Berkeley (Political Science) and a Masters of Science (International Relations/Middle East) from The London School of Economics.

 

Product Details

  • Publisher: Free Press (April 1, 2008)
  • Length: 496 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781416593713

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Raves and Reviews

"A wonderful book: well researched, balanced, and a joy to read. It brings you a picture of Israel that only a superb journalist such as the author can expose. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time." -- Amir D. Aczel, author of Fermat's Last Theorem

"A panorama of Israeli diversity -- Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Orthodox and secular, Russians and Ethiopians, Arabs and Christians.... Thanks, Ms. Rosenthal!" -- Los Angeles Times

"Rosenthal captures an entire country, one full of flux and drama, in as vivid and nuanced a way as possible." -- Publishers Weekly

"Intimate and vibrant. The only book I have ever seen that reveals the full human spectrum of Israel today." -- Daniel C. Matt, author of God & the Big Bang and The Essential Kabbalah

Martin E. Halstuk, Ph.D. professor of journalism, Pennsylvania State University, former reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Donna Rosenthal's sharp journalistic eye gives readers a rare book -- an objective and even-handed account of life in Israel today.

David Biale author of Eros and the Jews and editor of Cultures of the Jews: A New History Donna Rosenthal paints a colorful and compelling portrait of young Israelis nobody knows. We hear the personal stories of the crazy mix of people who live in this well-known but little-understood land. From an Ethiopian with dreadlocks and a kippa to a Muslim rapper to the Christian woman who edits an Arabic-language Cosmo. Anyone who wants to go far beyond the headlines will be wiser for having read this insightful book.

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