Michael Baizerman Author

I have crossed a Rubicon meaning that my second book is complete.  It includes 29 chapters, to say nothing about summing-ups at the end of each of its 6 units.  The manuscript comprises over 90 K words,  hundreds of notes, and more than 30 images. 'The Enchanting Encounter with the East" tells a story of inter-cultural relations between Latin West and the Far East related from the European point of view. The scenario occurred in the Late Middle Ages when the actual dialog between the two opposite ends of the 'human planet' had become possible due to the opportunities of the Pax Mongolica. However, many European literati were still holding outdated views on the world beyond Islam and were fed by false rumors about the latest developments on the eastern rim of the known world. These legends are passed through generations until they eventually recede, giving up to the outlook based on personal experience of travelers and distinction between the sacred and the p...

A Typical Notice  https://www.juliemeek.com.au/lost-and-found/  A new chapter, The Lost and Found Tribes, seems to bypass my narrative about the Alexander Gates. However, it introduces the issue of the Ten Lost Tribes as it emerges both in history and in Biblical and post-Biblical Jewish thought.  The Lost Tribes occupy an integral part of the Alexander legend and I thought it was important to explain how this topic had emerged before interweaving it with the medieval story.  Chapter 6 of Unit IV entitled "In the Shadow of the Iron Gates" develops the following threads: the collapse of Samaria and the rise of Jerusalem, the vision of the Biblical prophets about the return of the deportees, Mount Gerizim vs. Mount Zion, and the Emergence of the Ten Tribes.  Besides helping the understanding of the peculiar twist of the medieval legend, this extract contributes to my understanding of the history of ancient Israel. You can view my...

Dear readers, Happy New Year! I'm hopeful that the next year will bring you many happy moments that will overshadow all the sad ones. My reading audience is growing; over 1500 people have visited this blog, which delves into my second project. I have launched another blog on the Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/mikebisblog where I will tell a broader history of my writing, starting with my first book, Dawn and Sunset. You may visit my personal page on the Scriggler https://scriggler.com/Profile/michael_baizerman where I have uploaded 23 articles that cover my four projects. As far as my second book, The Enchanting Encounter with the East, I have started working on Unit IV, In the Shadow of the Iron Gate. I would like to explore the image of Alexander's Gate as it took shape in the Latin West. The draft copy of the unit comprises nine chapters; however, I will probably curtail one or two extracts for the sake of the consistency of reading. I will start by ...