<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Written from the eyes of a soldier, this novel follows a 16-year-old boy “from outside” who comes to the Kibbutz Beth-Alpha boarding school as a 10th grade student in the school year 1945–46. Their class name was “Oren,” meaning pine tree, and they grew up in the shadow of acute political and military confrontations that preceded the War of Independence. When they were in the 12th grade they were called up to serve in the newly founded Golani Brigade as a machine gun platoon in Battalion 13. They took part in the battles of the Jezreel Valley, which exposed them to the bitter truth that they were a small population with insufficient weapons confronted by all the Arab armies. Their forces were sparse, but the fighting spirit of the soldiers made up for the lack in numbers. They knew that if they didn’t stop the enemy’s advance, they would become the sequel to the European Holocaust.