What we have come to call the Arab-Israeli peace process began in 1977, when Egypt's president, Anwar Sadat, decided, with no warning and against fierce resistance, to break with his Arab neighbors, defy the central tenet of their formidable alliance, and travel to Jerusalem with his minister of state for foreign affairs.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali was that minister, and this is his astonishing account of the brave and often difficult diplomatic journey that began that cold November night and ended with the landmark Camp David agreement three years later.

Egypt's Road to Jerusalem is the first insider's account, from an Arab point of view, of the historic agreement that opened the way to the Arab-Israeli peace process and established the direction of America's relationship with both Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Reconstructed from the diaries Boutros Boutros-Ghali kept at the time, this is a faithful record of fascinating conversations - with an elliptical and visionary Sadat; a resilient Ezer Weizman, whose charm forged the first bonds of friendship and respect; a relentless Jimmy Carter; an unpredictable Moshe Dayan.

There are surprising snapshots here of Camp David - where members of the Egyptian and Israeli delegations bumped into one another in pajamas and sports clothes and while bicycling on forest paths - and of encounters with stunning figures from the world of high diplomacy, from Tito and Fidel Castro to the poet-president Leopold Senghor and the murderous and peculiar Idi Amin.

Egypt's Road to Jerusalem reveals the difficulties faced by Arab negotiators - then and now - as they confront a suspicious and intransigent right-wing government in Israel on the one hand, and dissension at home and throughout the Arab world on the other.

You will discover here the real motives behind Egypt's delicate balancing act: between its national interest and its commitment to the Palestinian people; between its allegiance to pan-Arabism and its decision to part from Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia to open the way for peace.