The Settlers

Plot

Now seemed a good time, better late than never, to learn about Israel and Palistine and to try to understand why they can never seem to find peace. After reading The Haj which gave me a Palestinian viewpoint, I chose The Settlers and followed up with The Harvest. They are very well written, informative and moving. It begins at the turn of the century and follows a Russian-Jew family escaping the increasingly dangerious situation developing there. Levin paints a very clear picture of their dreams, goals, strengths and weaknesses. Life was not easy there either but to them it was home. During WWI they fought to help Jews from all over Europe escape death. It is 832 pages that is hard to put down. And reading The Harvest is then a MUST. I feel that I can now better understand some of the problems we see on TV every day.