Gold Medal Non-fiction Young Adult Moonbeam Book Award winner Depicting the history of Israel from biblical Abraham to the present, this sophisticated, four-color graphic adaptation is academically grounded, guiding readers through highlights both in historical detail and from Israel's world view. History, religion, politics, and the current Middle East situation are all given comprehensive coverage in the text, which opens in a university setting with a professor teaching a series of sessions on Middle East/Near East modern history, beginning with Israel. With painted art that jumps right off the page, this crash course is an absorbing way for readers to absorb, understand, and retain key information about 4,000 years of complicated history. The second edition, updated through July 2008, includes the Winograd Commission Report on the war in Lebanon, the threat to Israel by Iran, and Israel's 60th anniversary as a State.