Product Description

Colorful first-reference books of basic information with activities and hands-on fun.

Customer Reviews (2)

Basic book on Israel for children.
The previous reviewer must be referring to a different book--this book doesn't have a picture of an Arab girl on the cover, nor are there any pictures of women in burkas. There are several mentions of Judiasm and the Jewish people, though for the most part the book focuses on the landscape and wildlife of Israel.

A better title would be "Arab Israel"
In this picture book about Israel, a Jewish state is almost nowhere to be seen.The front cover picture is of an Arab girl.The back cover picture is Koranic tile decoration from a mosque.The first page of the book is another full page of Koranic decoration from a mosque.In this 30 page book there are seven more pictures of mosques or churches, a picture of a woman covered head to toe in a burka with the strange title "the traditional Israeli dress for women includes a veil over the head and face," some ancient ruins, a lot of nature pictures, and one picture of an Israeli boy.Modern Israeli cities and institutions are absent.Far better books are A Ticket to Israel, by Marcia Gresko, and Enchantment of the World: Israel, by Martin and Stephen Hintz. ... Read more

Product Description
Depicts the occupations, daily activities, festivals, and ceremonies of Israel. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1873 edition by Longmans, Green, and Co., London. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Classic
An invaluable classic work by the famous British historian and "professor of ancient history" at Oxford in 1861, George Rawlinson.

Rawlinson summarized "The Sixth Monarchy" with this statement..."It seemed to the writer that the picture of the world during the Roman period, commonly put before students in "Histories of Rome", was defective, not to say false, in its omission to recognize the real position of Parthia during the three most interesting centuries of that period, as a counterpoise to the power of Rome, a second figure in the picture not much inferior to the first, a rival state dividing with Rome the attention of mankind and the sovereignty of the known earth."

Rawlinson further states that the "Parthians were a race of Scythians, who at a remote date had separated from the rest of the nation.Their language was half-Scythian, half-Median.They were, in fact, Scyths in descent, in habits, in character."

Another book entitled "Rome's enemies" (2004-U.K.) by Wilcox provides an additional historic link..."There is little to show that the Scythians were anything but Northern Caucasians, very similar to the Celts.Exhaustive examination of the great "Kurgans" of the Royal Scythians, which contain skeletal remains of pure Scythians, fits them into a Nordic category.Their faces are strikingly similar to modern north-west Europeans."

Great Book!
This book by Rawlinson is a must have for Parthian history. It is a general that is some what in depth about the history of Parthia, and those who were around them. The book still has the old style print to it, so don't let that discourge your reading. Over all it is a very good work on a very forgotten empire. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Israel
This book attempts to describe the geography, cultural milieu, and history of modern Israel. The description of the geography and the problems modern Israelis encountered and solved in living in such a harsh environment is detailed and accurate. The author points out that Israel is a land that welcomes many cultures and that it has been enriched by its diversity. The author traces Israel's history back to Abraham, making the common error of confusing Biblical accounts of the Jewish people with historical documentation of the founding of Israel. The text does, however, point out that the three major religions that hold Israel as a sacred land consider Abraham the progenitor of their common belief in monotheism. Unfortunately, the author reduces two thousand years of history to two pages in this book. He then concentrates on the more recent violent struggles between Israel and Palestine. The book even includes mention of the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers and the subsequent Israeli incursion into Lebanon this past summer. Although not perfect, this is one of the better books recently published about Israel. It struggles to include positive information about the many Israeli modern scientific innovations and makes a point of relating several programs Israel has developed to work with all its Middle Eastern neighbors to solve common ecological problems.
The book contains a useful appendix called "Facts at a Glance." It also has an index, bibliography, and additional sources of interest, including acceptable web sites. This book should prove useful to students doing research on Israel and the Middle East.
For ages 12 and up.
Reviewed by Susan Dubin

Not for little kids
First of all, this book should not have been labeled for children aged 4 to 8. Clearly, the publishers have very little notion of what children of that age bracket can read. This book is more appropriate for children aged 8 to 12, which is a far different reading level.

Beyond that, the book is not really about Israel, but about Israel's non-Jewish minorities, who make up less than a quarter of Israel's population. That would be fine, were not every page filled with arguments pointedly indicating why the author feels that Israel should not be a Jewish state.

For the most part, the facts (such as there are) are taken out of their regional context, failing to note that while every Arab state surrounding Israel also have non-Muslim minorities, they are all governed by variations on Islamic law, and consider themselves Islamic theocracies.

Furthermore the book accepts the ridiculous notion that Palestinians are descended from the vanished people called Philistines. It's true that Arabs today calling themselves Palestinians take their name from the Philistines, but those ancient people disappeared from the land 3,000 years ago, and today's Arab residents are either descendants of the various Muslim conquerors of Israel (beginning with the Arab conquest in 736) or more recent immigrants (within the last 150 to 200 years).

It's fine to have a book about Israel's minorities. Such volumes are very much in demand, and needed. But the title of this book is a misnomer. It should more accurately have been titled Israel's Minorities. (It doesn't even include statistics as to the population of each group.) As it is, the book reads like an anti-Israel tract for children.

--Alyssa A. Lappen ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Israel
This book is a comprehensive history of the State of Israel from the beginnings of the Zionist movement to 2008. The information given is both detailed and accurate and attempts to be objective, however the perspective is definitely pro-Israel. For example, in telling the events surrounding the killing of civilians at Deir Yassin during the War of Independence, the author writes, "Rumors of Arab villagers harboring snipers had sparked an attack... the Haganah and the Jewish Agency immediately condemned the killings...There is no evidence that the Irgun-Lehi troops deliberately engineered the Arabs' panicky flight." With so many media sources and college campuses publicizing an anti-Israel slant, a book for young readers that clearly explains the Israeli perspective is welcome. On the other hand the book does lack a full representation of the Palestinian point of view. Modern color photographs and historical black and white photos enrich the text. The subject matter is quite complicated and the vocabulary sophisticated, making this book appropriate for ages 12 and older. Hilary Zana ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of fictional postcards, written as if by young people visiting Israel, describes various sights and life in the modern Jewish state of Israel. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Geographical Review, published by American Geographical Society on January 1, 1994. The length of the article is 7521 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: Greenbelts have long been considered an effective tool in containing and shaping urban growth. Other purposes of greenbelts have competed for priority throughout the twentieth century, which complicates application and analysis of this tool. The core ideas were developed in London and diffused to many cities, including Jerusalem, where the British controlled planning from 1917 to 1948. Similarities and differences in the evolution of the greenbelts in London and Jerusalem reveal the variety of pressures experienced in open-space planning and bring into question the long-term effectiveness of greenbelts as a method of restraining urban growth.

Citation Details
Title: Greenbelts in London and Jerusalem. (London, England; Jerusalem, Israel)
Author: Shaul E. Cohen
Publication: The Geographical Review (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1994
Publisher: American Geographical Society
Volume: v84Issue: n1Page: p74(16)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Suitable for National Curriculum Key Stage 2, an introduction to the festivals and traditions of Israel, with information on the stories that lie behind them.Includes details of costumes, songs and simple related activities.In the FIESTA! series, illustrated with colour artwork and photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

government propaganda
This is nothing more than a government propaganda view of Israel, its policies and its place in the world.There is no useful content and no intellectual content.Its great for Fundementalist Christian Tourists to Israel, but for everyone else (including Israelis) its not worth looking at.

Just the facts for young readers
This book sets out a fine matter-of-fact set of information about the state of Israel with which it is hard to disagree, even if one is the most anti-Israel person under the sun.

The book covers all the ways in which Israel is different from its neighbors (and every other nation under the sun), putting the discussion into the context of the Middle East. It also presents the ways in which Israel is like every where else.

It's sad to say that readers have to be reminded that in Israel, like every where else, the sun rises and sets, the seasons change and the weather is a topic of conversation. Israelis care about the past, the present and the future, and they like sports. And so on.

There are plain, factual presentations concerning the government, economy, geography and land. The book also covers the Oslo accords and their aftermath, the beginning of the second intifada and the disagreements internationally and within Israel over the Jewish "settlements" in the West Bank and Gaza.

My only quarrel with this discussion is that it fails to note the larger creation of Arab settlements in the same areas since 1993, and does not correctly refer to these areas as the disputed territories that they are.

But for the most part, this book contains just the facts. And on that score alone, it is by far one of the best introductions to Israel I have ever seen.

--Alyssa A. Lappen ... Read more

Product Description
Country on the Move presents original research and acomprehensive multidisciplinary analysis of the spatial aspects ofmigration. It considers the spatial results of two diametricallyopposed policies: planning from above to settle the North African andAsian newcomers in the 1950s, and planning by market forces forimmigrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. Unlike otherbooks on immigration, Country on the Move also analyzes internalmigration within Israel, which is an outcome of the regionaldisparities produced by immigration. Moreover, it compares theempirical findings in Israel with international trends, and itsanalysis can serve as a foundation for setting spatial immigrationpolicy. Audience: Researchers specializing in population geography,migration, and regional development; university students on all levelswho are taking courses in these subjects; and top officials ingovernment ministries that deal with immigration. ... Read more