<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;<em>Old New Land </em>forever altered the face of the Middle East. The book was a nineteenth-century utopian blueprint for a modern state of Israel. There were Jewish settlers in Palestine, and Zionist ideas had existed in Eastern Europe before Herzl, but Herzl made Zionism into a cultural and political movement acceptable to Western governments and intellectuals. His prophecy at the end of this book became reality: &ldquo;If you will it, it is not a fable.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p><p>The author, founder of the Zionist movement, considered this utopian story his best literary work: an expression of his art, with a political message. His biographer, Amos Elon, placed <em>Old New Land </em>&ldquo;in the mainstream of fin-de-si&egrave;cle art. Its pursuit of arcadian bliss within a mystic community and its haunted preoccupation with dreams recall Gustav Mahler&rsquo;s music.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>