An often neglected chapter in the history of Rome, this book describes in what can be called a narrative approximation what the life may have been like for the last of the Jewish rebels during the final sacking of Israel. Given that most children today have grown up hearing stories in the news about conflict in the Middle East, especially in Israel, a istorical perspective can help them to see the difficulties this region has always dealt with. Based on the history presented by Josephus Flavius, the former Jewish soldier turned historian. This book explains the problems that led to the conflict briefly, retells the tale of the siege at Masada in a narrative that reads like a novel at times. For a book that recounts history, it takes anolder vein of approach to telling the tale: an attempt to personalize it by giving the actors voice again, despite having no way of knowing what was said. It makes for exciting reading, and the budding historian who reads it will dfinitely be intruiged by Waldman's unusual choice. The book continues into describing the eventual rediscovery of the site and the archological digs that have occurred there. If any school claims to teach about the plight of the oppressed, then a recounting of the fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent Diaspora is essential, and this one serves elementary students well. ( )