TONGUE OF THE PROPHETS

Well known at one time as a radio broadcaster, and author of the unforgettable From the Land of the Silent People St. John -- in recent years- has identified himself with the Jewish cause in Israel, and now reenforces that phase of his career with a scholarly biography, deeply rooted in primary source material, of Eliezer Ben Yehudah, fanatical devotes to the cause of restoration of Hebrew as a living tongue. That Hebrew in the folk tongue of Israel today in due, in large measure, to one man's lifelong determination. This is the biography of a man who went to prison, who made bitter enemies, who fought often alone- to prove his theories, that a Jewish homeland must have a common language to attain an entity. From Lithuania to Palentine, he carried the torch of his faith. His dictionary, of which he completed eight volumes, against incredible odds of antagonism, illness, personal tragedy, poverty, established his dream as reality. Hebrew as a spoken language, lived again after 2000 years. This is not only the story of one man. It is the story of the early struggles to get a foothold in Turkish-owned Palestine; to win support of men like ; to establish world Zionism; to lay the groundwork for the State of Israel. An important contribution to Israeli history, though unlikely to achieve the wide popularity of his earliest books.