The Hills of Adonisis not only a masterfully-written travel book\nbut also a personal quest for meaning by the author. Ostensibly\nthis is a book about Lebanon, finely written and deeply felt — not\nthe Lebanon that a Beirut businessman would recognize, but a\ncoastline of small historic ports and a littoral of beautiful\nmountains. In this country, the ruins of Phoenician, Greek and\nRoman are among the most impressive in the world. Crusader castles\nand Arab palaces stand together in the hills, and the people are a\nunique medley of races and religions. For five hundred miles the\nauthor walked through the mountains, following tracks and rivers.\nHis journey was not only a survey of a remarkable country, but a\nquest for the divinities of the region — Astarte and Adonis, who\nheld the secrets of death and rebirth in the ancient cults of\nLebanon. He visited almost every place of cultural importance, and\nlived with the people along his way, recording strange remnants\nleft over from the religion of Baalim and high places. The Hills of\nAdonisis both a travel book and a personal journal; a quest for\nmeaning, a reflection on faith and reason and a poem on the joy and\ncomplexity of living.

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