In a Desert Land: Photographs of Israel, Egypt, and Jordan

The quality and composition of these photographs is utterly stunning. I cannot part with this book even 10 years after buying it. It is a huge book, but it is such a masterpiece of photography that it is worth having.

There are a very few books about the natural heritage of the desert lands of Egypt, Jordan and Israel. This book attempts to capture visuals of the desert areas in the three countries with basic emphasis on Sinai. The book is split into chapters according to geographical locations of the areas photographed, and Sinai is given a chapter alone (it should be noted that Sinai is part of Egypt). The photos were an effort done in the seventies-eighties and therefore remain unspoiled by the modern resort developments popping up in and around the coasts of the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula. A photographer myself, and having been in many of the areas displayed in the book, the pictures taken for Mount Moses and Saint Catherine monetary in Sinai are some of the best I have seen published. The book is largely a personal experience, and is provided in a narrative fashion. The one thing I found annoying about this was that the photos are provided without captions, if you want to know where each photo was taken you have to look at the photo index at the end of each chapter. After a while this becomes a tiring task especially if you want to peruse the photos without reading the text. This however doesn't stop the book from being nice in look and design. Get this book if you have been to these desert areas or plan to go there, it is nice pictorial account of the beauty of the desert. However, if you are scientifically interested in a descriptive account of their natural features and characteristics this book will be of little help, it is also of little aid as a travel companion. For me, it was worth the buy for the nice photos. If you are looking for some hardcore scientific information about the natural heritage of Sinai with beautiful professionally taken photos you are better off with another highly pictorial book, "the Natural Heritage of Egypt", published by the Tourism Development Authority in Egypt and authored by a professional photographer Rafik Khalil. The photos are extraordinarily and rare with good solid scientific explanations.

This is a rich diet of unusually beautiful pictures; a collection of vivid scenes. You feel like you're there... You'll wish that you were there! Ah, but Folberg's eye is even better than yours or mine. Open up (pun intended) and let him teach you how to see.