In the 1920s, hard-line Zionists developed the doctrine of the 'Iron Wall': negotiations with the Arabs must always be from a position of military strength, and only when sufficiently strong Israel would be able to make peace with her Arab neighbours. This book focuses on Israeli foreign policy.

Part novel, part digression, this book presents a disordered narrative that interweaves the birth and life of the unfortunate 'hero' Tristram Shandy, the eccentric philosophy of his father Walter, the amours and military obsessions of Uncle Toby, and a host of other characters, including Dr Slop, Corporal Trim and the parson Yorick.

Gives an insight into life in a medieval cathedral city, capturing the everyday concerns of ordinary people and focussing on the miraculous cures carried out at a shrine.