The Source
A Novel
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4.3 • 215 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
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 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
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
James Michener always took big bites with his historical fiction, and The Source is a whopper that spans 12,000 years in the history of the Jewish people. American archeologist John Cullinane is overseeing a massive dig in Israel in 1964, at a site where the remnants of one ancient culture after another seem to pile right on top of each other. Every time his team uncovers artifacts from a different era, the narrative makes another mind-blowing jump backward to show how the people of that period lived—from their customs and religious rites to the tools they used. We learned a ton about how humanity, technology, and Judaism evolved—but for all of the meticulous historical research, we love that the story stays focused on individual characters. Leave it to a master like Michener to make more than ten thousand years of history feel personal.
Customer Reviews
The Source
Michener has no peers so providing only 4 stars just means it was not his best work. He mixed in the fictional city of Makor with real cities and fictional characters with non-fictional characters so I had to wonder at times who and what was real. It was a great story about the Torah which is the basis for for Christianity and Islam. The plight of the Jews is the main focus and the wars among them. He was wrong when he stayed that Josephus did not recognize Christ, a major error considering what a great researcher Michener was. See Antiquities 18 63-64. Love his books though and have read most of them.
Time
It was fabulous in 1965 and its historically fantastic now.
The Source
Very eye opening about religions the why's and how's!
I never knew that the Jewish religion was the oldest continuous religion and they felt they should be persecuted.