cover image Israel

Israel

Frederic Brenner, Fredric Brenner, Frbedberic Brenner. HarperCollins Publishers, $40 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-06-015959-7

Photographer Brenner ( Jerusalem ) here opens his shutter to the land and people of Israel; more than 100 color and black-and-white shots are interspersed in a photographic tour of the country. We see soldiers on maneuvers in the Negev, old men at prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, folks eating at a falafel counter in Tel Aviv, the children's quarters of a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee. There are family portraits, a dramatic image of a lonely monastery carved into a Judean desert hillside, double-page panoramic color photos of the surprisingly diverse landscape. A fragment of the book of Isaiah (one of the Dead Sea Scrolls) is reproduced, a young girl playing the violin depicted. In an introduction Yehoshua ( Facing the Forests , etc.) recreates his driving tour around the country, briefly relates Israel's history, analyzes the importance of Jerusalem to the various resident religions, discusses both internal and international problemsand simply enjoys the pleasure of a writer's ramble through the 40-year-old nation. (September)