The Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East has unsettled the world for over half a century. What are the roots of this violence? Is it simply the 'normal' prejudice found through time between neighbouring peoples of different cultural traditions or ethnic origins? Or is hostility toward Israel a unique case of anti-Semitism that goes beyond normal prejudice in ascribing to the Jews a quality of cosmic evil? The thesis of this deep and brilliant history is that, while both kinds of prejudice are involved in the Middle East, the newest prejudice - virulent anti-Semitism - so long a poison in the bloodstreams of Christendom, seems to have entered the body of Islam. To understand how this has happened, a great scholar of the Middle East leads us step by step up through the history of the Semitic peoples and languages.