In his signature style of grand storytelling, James A. Michener transports us back thousands of years to the Holy Land. Through the discoveries of modern archaeologists excavating the site of Tell Makor, Michener vividly re-creates life in an ancient city and traces the profound history of the Jewish people—from the persecution of the early Hebrews, the rise of Christianity, and the Crusades to … to the founding of Israel and the modern conflict in the Middle East. An epic tale of love, strength, and faith, The Source is a richly written saga that encompasses the history of Western civilization and the great religious and cultural ideas that have shaped our world.
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from James A. Michener’s Hawaii.
Praise for The Source
“Fascinating . . . stunning . . . [a] wonderful rampage through history . . . Biblical history, as seen through the eyes of a professor who is puzzled, appalled, delighted, enriched and impoverished by the spectacle of a land where all men are archeologists.”—The New York Times
“A sweeping [novel] filled with excitement—pagan ritual, the clash of armies, ancient and modern: the evolving drama of man’s faith.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Magnificent . . . a superlative piece of writing both in scope and technique . . . one of the great books of this generation.”—San Francisco Call Bulletin
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Michener digs deep with every book he writes, until you know a place’s entire history and understand its people. It could be dry but he keeps it alive along every stage of history with wonderful characters true to their time and place, bringing you along to live those times with them. He’s been a dependable favorite for decades.
This book is an absolutely amazingly well researched and fascinating look at an archeological “Tel” in Israel. I read it years ago and have never forgotten it. Such a detailed glimpse over time in one place as the archeologists uncover one layer of civilization after another…
Read before you take a trip to Israel!
What a great read about a wonderful man. Didn’t know he had accomplished so much in his life. He is an American treasure.
A must-read for anyone interested in the state of Israel, from antiquity to the present. As relevant today as it was when first published 50 years ago. I loved it then; I loved it again.
This book began a life-long love of Michener’s works, since the day I plucked it from the shelf of the teacher’s staff room while student teaching 40 years ago. Like all of Michener, it is LONG, spell-binding, as historically accurate as possible and generally loses a little of its glamor toward the end (at least for this historical fiction fan).
Interesting, informative, and entertaining
Love all Mitchner books…what a great author! Get us a deal on Hawaii
Have some faith it takes 4 or 5 chapters to get going. If you have read Michener books you know he goes into huge detail.
Man from the earliest times. So informative. A must read.
I first read “The Source ” years ago and it remains one of my favorite books. A tour through Jewish history told by one of the world’s great story tellers.
I think James Michener is one of the best authors around. This book takes us back hundreds and hundreds of years and coordinates his story with what the archeologists find as they continue to dig. He offers some very exciting ideas on how people evolved and how different religions evolved. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in history and good story telling.
Fans of Historical Fiction will LOVE this novel.Great writing.
Took me a few tries to get started on this very thick book. Glad I was persistent because it began my love for anything Michener no matter how thick and became my favorite book of all time.
The book is set at an archeological site in Isreal. The archeologists dig into a mound and the author Michener extrapolates a short story set in the time period and historical information often derived from the objects found. A new story set in a new time period but in the exact same location as the archeologists progress through each layer in the mound.
The characters and storylines change as the reader and archeologists move together from one layer to the next. Having the historical context change every chapter while the geological location remains unchanged, except as styles of architecture and differences in the utensils we use in our daily lives are updated from one layer to the next made this a fascinating and unique read for me. Actually I originally read the paperback version decades ago but just listened to the audiobook version.
I lost my vision and can no longer see well enough to ready printed books. Neurological damage from my spine has affected the fine motor skills in my fingers and hands. Even before I was blinded holding books for very long was hard and turning pages was very frustrating. Every time I successfully managed to turn a page I’d have to check the page number to be sure I only moved forward by one single page. Often I would move 2 or 3 pages and sometimes as many as five because I still have not regained feeling in my fingers. So for any book I review here it will be and audiobook version, sometimes bought from Audible.com and more often borrowed from the NJ Foundation for the blind library.
Jamie
Great book which was well researched.
One of my all time favorite books. The book is authentically researched both historically and anthropologically. The “Source” is one of those books that has stayed with me for years and is on my “to read again” list.
I’ve read this rather thick book three times over the many years I’ve owned it.
The Source was the very first novel I read for pleasure when I was young. I found Michener’s motif of storytelling to be fascinating. From establishing a location, starting from the beginning of time, and continue to follow the same site through time seeing life and its effects on the very same place made a powerful impression on me. I began to view history through a new lens and perspective. I have since read all of his works and highly recommend any of them for an exciting reading experience.
This book should be of special interest to those of us who have just learned that we have, even a small percentage, of Jewish DNA.