A Long Way to Shiloh

Lionel Davidson

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• eBook ISBN:
  9780571329946
• Year: 2016

Casper Laing, the young, fiery and brilliant Professor of Semitic Languages, is asked to decipher an ancient parchment found in Israel. Piecing together its mysterious fragments, his translation soon reveals directions to a shrouded location. Believed to be the secret hiding place of the True Menorah, an ancient and priceless Jewish candelabrum, the Jordanians and Israelis begin a frantic race to claim the prize. Surrounded by violent and treacherous rivals, Casper is enjoined on a deadly adventure deep into the burning Negev desert.

A Long Way to Shiloh (1966), Lionel Davidson's third novel, was a Book Society Choice and won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award as well as the Crime Critics' Award for Best Thriller of the Year. Published in the USA as The Menorah Men, it was a no. 1 bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. It further cemented his reputation as one of the pre-eminent genre writers of his generation, and was described by the Guardian as 'first-rate' and by the New York Times as 'a supple delight in which learning, wit and style are beautifully integrated.'

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Dedication
• Prologue: Declaring the End from the Beginning
• 1: Altogether Brutish and Foolish
• 2: Subtilty to the Simple
• 3: A Spoil of Gold
• 4: Precept Upon Precept
• 5: Behold Strange Women
• 6: A Naughty Person
• 7: A Horrible Thing in the House
• 8: Desolate and Faint All Day
• 9: The Wilderness of Zin
• 10: A Sore Botch
• 11: The Secrets of Wisdom
• 12: Before I Go
• 13: Fear and Trembling
• 14: A Bastard in Ashdod
• 15: An End Is Come
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright