Joan Meyerson

Explores the period between the 16th and 19th centuries in Japan by examining the lives of shoguns, samurais, geishas, and the very few westerners allowed into Japan . Japan was then a world unto itself, closed to outsiders, and ruled by shoguns with absolute control. During this period, Japan transitioned from chaos and violence to a land of ritual refinement and peace.

Follows author Bruce Feiler as he journeys by foot, jeep, rowboat, and camel through some of the greatest stories ever told, the five books of Moses. Begins in the holy city of Jerusalem and travels to a possible site of the garden of Eden on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates in Turkey. Climbs Mt. Ararat in search of Noah's ark and explores the sulfurous land by the Dead Sea, with its salt pillars called "Lot's wife." Visits the ancient ruins...