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From early times the British people have been drawn to the Holy Land through two major influences: the translation ofthe Bible into English, and later, the imperial need to control the road to India and access the oil of the MiddleEast. Under these influences, one cultural and the otherpolitical-military, countless Englishmen--pilgrims, crusaders, missionairies, merchants, explorers, and surveyors-have made their way to the land of the ancient Hebrews. With the lucidity and vividness that characterizes allher work, Barbara Tuchman brings to life the development of these twin motives in the consciousness of the British people, until they were finally brought together at the endof World War I when Britain's conquest of Palentine from theTurks and the solemn moment of entering Jerusalem were imminent.
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