It has been almost half a century since the founding of Israel, a state that emerged out of chaos and longing and whose history has transformed the world. From the early euphoria of independence, through hardscrabble years as Israelis worked to draw life out of the desert land, during the brutal and bitter wars that have marked the course of the last fifty years, and as the country has become a prominent member of the international community, the photographer Micha Bar-Am has been there to record the drama and the nuance of Israeli life. Featuring pictures taken over the course of the country's history by Israel's foremost photographer - and opening with a thoughtful and important essay by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist and award-winning author of From Beirut to Jerusalem - this rich and evocative volume shows us Israel in all its fascinating complexity.