Moon of Israel (1918) was one of the earliest Haggard books to be filmed (in 1924, as a silent movie directed by Michael Curtiz). The movie adaptation has been released both as Moon of Israel and The Slave Queen. Interestingly, Paramount bought the original film and suppressed it so it wouldn't complete with the release of DeMille's original silent version of The Ten Commandments.

As a book, it is an exceptional retelling of the Biblical story of the Exodus. I'm certain most modern readers will be familiar with the original story. By selecting an unlikely viewpoint character-the scribe Ana-Haggard provides a down-to-earth narrator for a story of fantastic proportion. The novel was first serialized in The Cornhill Magazine from January through October in 1918 and released in book for in October 1918.

Author and critic Jessica Amanda Salmonson has called Moon of Israel “a beautifully written Jewish legend,” and adds, “Haggard was pro-Zionist advocating a Jewish homeland in Palestine as early as 1915.”

It is clear that this book was important to Haggard, and fans of his historical epics will find themselves right at home in its pages.

Genre: Thriller