than he is spotted by a border patrol and taken for a narcotics smuggler. Escaping with difficulty over the Dead Sea, he reaches the kibbutz where his friends are camped. What the searchers eventually learn is that the hiding place for the Menorah is beneath the foundations of a new hotel. The question of locating it is debated at a special rabbinic court but the verdict is against disturbing the Menorah's hiding place - not without the suspicion of indirect bribery on the part of Teitleman, the capitalist responsible for building the hotel. Caspar, the foreigner who understands the two-tongued language of the land, then returns to the safety of his academic haven. Background The novel was written following a visit by Davidson to Israel, to which he returned for a ten year stay in 1968. It has been particularly commended for its descriptive treatment of the country. However, the geographical and political situation described there was considerably changed by the Six-Day War of 1967. An ironical but later change was the creation of a factual University of Bedfordshire in 1993, initially based in Luton rather than Bedford. References 1966 British novels British thriller novels Novels set in Israel Victor Gollancz Ltd books Harper & Row books