Book description
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.'
Lionel Davidson was born in 1922 in Hull, Yorkshire. He left school
early and worked as a reporter before serving in the Royal Navy during
World War II. His first novel, The Night of Wenceslas, was published in
1960 to great critical acclaim and drew comparisons to Graham Greene and
John le Carre. It was followed by The Rose of Tibet (1962), A Long Way
to Shiloh (1966) and The Chelsea Murders (1978). He has thrice been the
recipient of the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award and, in
2001, was awarded the CWA's Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement
award.
