‘Can you show me a stone that Jesus stepped on？’ Israeli author Michael Bauer served as a commander in the paratrooper forces and now is an educator， teaching Middle East History， and tour guide， conducting tours around Israel， Jordan， the Sinai Peninsula， and Turkey for celebrities， government heads， university students， military intelligence unit， and university presidents。 His combined experience in both Middle East history and in communicating as a tour guide inform this， his initial publica ‘Can you show me a stone that Jesus stepped on？’ Israeli author Michael Bauer served as a commander in the paratrooper forces and now is an educator， teaching Middle East History， and tour guide， conducting tours around Israel， Jordan， the Sinai Peninsula， and Turkey for celebrities， government heads， university students， military intelligence unit， and university presidents。 His combined experience in both Middle East history and in communicating as a tour guide inform this， his initial publication – ISRAEL JOURNEY – a unique travel diary in which Bauer leads nine young media professionals from diverse religious， ethnic， and political backgrounds around Israel， on a tour of the most important sites in Israel。 The book is translated from the Hebrew by Eylon LevyThe author offers a roadmap in his introductory comments: ‘This book is my travel diary as an Israeli tour guide。 The characters are fictional。 Each character is based on a variety of people I have met over the years。 Every question or interaction involving these characters is based on real Instances from my personal experience。’ The characters are a Pakistani Muslim， a Lebanese Christian， a German blogger， a documentary director/producer， a Chinese journalist， a pro-Israel Jew， a German reporter from Boston， an Israeli screenwriter， and a former anti-Israel activist working for a Jewish organization。 Michael’s narrative is witty， conversational， and so rich in historical information that he sheds a light on a country we all need to understand better。 His interaction with his nine members of the tour focuses on history， geopolitics， economics， culture， and the country’s existence， presented in a manner that is accessible to all。 The book is enhanced by maps， graphs， and photographs， allowing the information to be visual as well as intellectual - and entertaining。 Over the eight day period the tour includes the Old City of Jerusalem， The Temple Mount， the Judean Desert with Qumran， the Dead Sea Scrolls， the Dead Sea （Masada）， the Golan Heights， Israel’s Water Sector， Tel Aviv and everything surrounding these mentioned locales。 This is a fine ‘tour guide’ to stimulate discovering Israel， but it is far more than that: this is one fine exploration of history and culture and politics offered in a manner that makes understanding this important country available to all。 Highly recommended。 。。。more