The Jewish Odyssey: An Illustrated History

Storytelling saved Halter's life. In this in-depth chronicle of the origins of Jewish faith and history the author begins with a personal anecdote about fleeing the Warsaw ghetto with his father and mother, who was pregnant at the time. She gave birth in Moscow, they were moved to Uzbekistan, and there, his parents now ill, Halter stole food in order to save them. But he was as bad at stealing as he was good at telling stories, and he befriended a gang of "real thieves," trading stories for food. Halter brings this passion to a volume that chronicles Jewish history and faith in a unadorned yet knowledgeable way; only crucial information, supported historically but without the scholarly mediation typical to volumes of this sort, is included. A wealth of paintings and many photographs, some iconic, guide Halter's stimulating account. From the birth of the first two Hebrew Kingdoms, Judah and Israel, to Saul, David, and Solomon, the kings who gave rise to the Hebrew nation, Halter leaves weaves a spellbinding account of 4,000 years of history and faith. Photos. (Sept.)