Exodus is the story of the greatest miracle of our time : the rebirth of a nation. It tells the story of Jews coming back after centuries of abuse , torture and murder , to carve an oasis in the sand with guts and with blood"

That was how Leon Uris describes his famous novel Exodus about the re-birth of the State of Israel. In Exodus Revisited , he returns to the places and people that first inspired Exodus.

In this pictorial essay , first published in 1960 , and illustrated with over 250 photographs by Dimitrios Harissiardis , Uris examines the vibrant young nation, with an ancient and glorious but often tragic past.

As a land of contrasts , from the deserts of the Negev to the lush valleys of the Galil , from the tough and wonderful young Sabras to the ultra-Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem and Safed , Uris takes us on a journey through Israel's glorious past , hopeful present and divine future.

"The dispersed Jews , destroyed as a nation, suffered unspeakable persecution in most of the world. They never stopped looking towards their ancient homeland , with the prayer that ended , 'Next year in Jerusalem".

From the remains of Hazor , an ancient city that was conquered by Joshuah , to the fortress of Masada, where 286 Jews held back the might of Rome for three years , until , betrayed they all perished : men , women and children. The Jewish nation was destroyed and the Jews dispersed to the four corners of the earth.

To the battlegrounds where the poorly armed Jewish community of 'Palestine' held off the armies of five Arab nations in the War of Independence , and where to this day the people of Israel have lived in the sights of Arab hate and violence , longing only for the day when their children can live in peace.

It portrays the brave young soldiers of Israel whose determination is that 'We shall not perish again'.

It is a digest of Jews living as a free people in their own land , the State of Israel, re-risen like a phoenix from the ashes of the holocaust

To Israel's most precious possession of all. Her beautiful , bright eyed and inquisitive children.

It is important to see the beauty of Israel, at a time when the media do not portray all that is wonderful about this land and it's people , choosing instead to engage in prejudice and hate-filled invective , unfairly demonizing the Children of Israel , in the same way Hitler and Goebbels did.

"Israel is the light of a new dawn. As in ancient days , she is again a bridge from the world of darkness to the world of light.