"Holy Wars describes 3,000 years of war in the Holy Land with the unique approach of focusing on pivotal battles or campaigns, beginning with the Israelites' capture of Jericho and ending with Israel's last full-fledged assault against Lebanon. Its 17 chapters stop along the way to examine key battles fought by the Philistines, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, and Mamluks, the latter clash, at Ayn Jalut, comprising the first time the Mongols suffered a decisive defeat."--Publisher's description.

Latch of the land of Israel: Israelite conquest of the promised land, 1400 BCE -- Times of trouble: Battles of the Judges, 1200 BCE -- Two peoples, one land: Philistines and Israelites, 1000 BCE -- Sennacherib's crowning achievement: Assyrians at Lachish, 701 BCE -- Pushed too far: the Maccabean War, 175 BCE -- Ivdaea Capta: the rage of Rome, 67 CE -- The Koran, the tribute, or the sword!: Islam's conquest of the Middle East, 634 CE -- Impaled at the Horns of Hattin: twilight for the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, 1187 -- Wa Islamah! Wa Islamah!: Mamluks stop the Mongol horde, 1260 -- Outgunned: Mamluk cavalry scorn Ottoman firearms, 1516 -- Plagued by delays, and delayed by Plague: Napoleon's Holy Land Campaign, 1799 -- By way of deception: World War I in Palestine, 1917-18 -- Israel's "Maginot Line": 1948 War of Independence -- Attacked, captured and abandoned: 1956 Sinai Campaign -- How the hell did anyone get up there?: 1967 Six Day War -- Sacrificial stand in the Golan Heights: 1973 Yom Kippur War -- Turkey shoot over the Bekaa Valley: 1982 Lebanon War.