Customer Reviews

Digging for God and Country

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Silberman's work is a good overview of the origins of archaeology in the Holy Land for a hobbyist, particularity for someone interested in Jerusalem. It is full of mostly interesting stories and facts surrounding a handful of important people involved, though it is by no means exhaustive. Notably, Silberman also explores the political and religious influences on the individuals involved. Warning: the book can be read as a collection of narratives, and therefore can seem a bit disjointed at times; it is not particularly good for skimming. Also included is a thorough bibliography that lends itself to further research on the subject and several black and white images for curiosity's sake.

Having to read this book for a class and write a comprehensive review proved to be nearly impossible. this is a book consisting of 18 chapters which do not fit together, they resemble 18 seperate short stories. the book is arranged chronologically by the dates of exploration, not by the historical dates which each city, settlement or advancement in civilization occured which makes forming a timeline of history in ones head nearly impossible. Beyone the content, the book consists of many multiple idea sentences and paragraphs, which make the reader repeatedly stop and ask, "what?"

All in all, I would have quit after the 3rd chapter (figured i had to give it a chance) if i wasn't required to write a book report on the ENTIRE book