Opens with a description of the variegated features of the area that is now Israel. Then, after a brief survey of the history of t he Jews in the area from the earliest arrival some four thousand years ago to the end of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of Zionism, and the establishment of Israel in 1948, the author presents a vivid pictuire of the mosauc of peoples and religions in the country. Includes an Index.

(Key Words: Israel, Zionism, Kibbutz, Religion, Tel Aviv, Hebrews, Judaism, Jews, Sinai Peninsula, Sea of Galilee, Diaspora, Education, Agriculture, Arabs).