Customer Reviews

Israel from the Air (White Star)

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When I first saw this book I wanted it. It is a wonderful book of aerial photos of Israel. It make me desire to go to Israel and now that I have had that blessed opportunity, the book is even more enduring. The descriptions of each page is to the point.

According to one of my favorite high school teachers, "Geography is Everything". She felt, and I grew to agree with her, that you cannot understand a nation and it's history without also understanding how the layout of the land affects them. Nowadays when I go traveling one of my first moves is to start up Google Earth and do a fly through. Grinberg's book has the same effect, however Grinberg is a much better tour guide than raw satellite photos, and focuses on the hilites.

In particular there are some beautiful monasteries built on the sides of desert cliffs that I'd love to visit, if possible. The images of Jerusalem are just stunning and put the scale of the old city and the relationship between the major holy sites and the day to day residential into perspective.

And there's a lot more, from Mount Hermon and Nimrod's castle in the north; Nazareth, Tiveria and the expanse of the the Galili. to the Judean and Negev deserts. For such a small country there is an amazing contrast of terrain; the country literally somersaults from one micro climate to another. . The only gap that I would have like to have seen covered is that path through the Giora nature reserve and river valley that the train takes from Jerusalem to Beit Shemesh. It's a beautiful trip past ancient terraced hillsides and a tiny babbling river and I wouldn't mind spending a day or so hiking it as the enclosed train ride doesn't lend itself to panoramic photography.

What I liked about the book is that it can be both a beautiful memento of where you've been, and a planning tool for where you'd like to go.

On the downside I probably have more "coffee table" books than I need, though this one is particularly worth it. Others I rotate - I usually have this on out on display. I also own a similar book of aerial photography called Ancient Jordan from the Air. The two countries, located right next to each other, are intermeshed in their geography and history and I've found it interesting to compare the two.

This book is beautiful to look at but more than that, it conveys a feeling of connection to the land and its history.I bought one for a gift and one for myself and would give it as a gift again.