The Village gates are closed by Danny Endlich – a new book which takes an intimate look at a paradise-on-earth settlement in the untouched Sinai Desert during the 70’s.

The book presents vignettes of adventure in the daily lives of the fishermen and scuba divers. A group of free spirited young men and women were lucky enough to experience paradise on earth; a life of sun, sand and sea, away from money worries and the pressure of structured society. Instead, this life was guided by impulses, acceptance, youth and a lot of hormones.

This humorous and sometimes touching story tells of the Israelis, Bedouins and foreigners in the Sinai Desert during the heady years from 1971 to 1982, when the Sinai was then evacuated and returned to the Egyptians.

The 41 chapters, each a complete story within itself, combine to give a multifaceted view of the lives of all the players. From being a peripheral part of one story, a character becomes the focus of another.

The author wrote these stories from the point of view of the twenty-something Israeli man he used to be, writing in English, although it is not his native tongue.

Danny Endlich wrote The Village Gates are closed to capture the stories which floated about for 30 years amongst the community of these Sinai people, now dispersed around the world.

During the 2002 twenty year reunion of the evacuation of 1982, every single person out of the 350 participants concluded the time spent in the Sinai was “…the best time in my life.” Regardless of the length of time spent on the Red Sea shores – whether it was three months or ten years; regardless of the time which had passed since the evacuation, careers built, children born, degrees acquired, business developed and professional achievements, this time in the sun, on the sand and under the sea was everyone’s life most thrilling and enjoyable experience.

A spoonful of that taste is captured in this new book.

Link to Publication: http://www.lulu.com

About the author
Danny Endlich was born in Jerusalem and grew up in Israel. He was a diver in the Israeli navy and had a long career as a scuba diving instructor on the Red Sea. Danny is living in Seattle since 1995.