In From Beirut to Jerusalem, Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times, author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree, has drawn on his decade in the Middle East to produce the most trenchant, vivid, and thought-provoking book yet on the region.

No issue in international politics has been more hotly debated than the Arab-Israeli conflict. And no reporter has illuminated both the conflict and the rhythms of life in the Middle East with more immediacy and brilliance than Tom Friedman, twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. Extremism, terrorism, fundamentalism on right and left, Friedman puts all the operative currents into perspective with an inimitable specificity and clarity.

Thomas L. Friedman was UPI's Beirut correspondent from 1979 to 1981. In 1982, he became the New York Times Beirut bureau chief, winning a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. In 1984, he moved to Jerusalem as the Times bureau chief, and in 1988 won a second Pulitzer Prize for reporting. He is also the author of the national bestseller The Lexus and the Olive Tree. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on this book. He lives in Washington with his family.