{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375724540?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0375724540","authors":["Tudor Parfitt"],"book_id":"9780375724541","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/journey-to-the-vanished-city-9780375724541","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780375724541.jpg?v=6c10dc3ae38127dd","description":"In a mixture of travel, adventure, and scholarship, historian Tudor Parfitt sets out in search of answers to a fascinating ethnological puzzle: is the Lemba tribe of Southern Africa really one of the lost tribes of Israel, descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba? Beginning in the Lemba villages in South Africa, where he witnesses customs such as food taboos and circumcision rites that seem part of Jewish tradition, Parfitt retraces the supposed path of the Lembas through Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Tanzania, taking in sights like Zanzibar and the remains of the stone city Great Zimbabwe. The story of his eccentric travels, a blend of the ancient allure of King Solomon's mines and Prester John with contemporary Africa in all its beauty and variety, makes for an irresistible glimpse at a various and rapidly changing continent. And in a new epilogue, Parfitt discusses recent DNA evidence that, amazingly, lends credence to the Lembas' tribal myth.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780375724541","publication_date":"20000404","publisher":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","slug":"journey-to-the-vanished-city","subtitle":"The Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel","title":"Journey to the Vanished City"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS001040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Southern African History","score":0.7815,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS001020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"East African History","score":0.7733,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV002050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"North Africa Travel","score":0.7553,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS001040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Southern African History","score":0.7815,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS001020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"East African History","score":0.7733,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV002050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"North Africa Travel","score":0.7553,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS001040","confidence_band":"high","label":"Southern African History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS022000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Jewish History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRV015020","confidence_band":"high","label":"Travel in Israel","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Southern African History","score":0.7815,"slug":"southern-african-history"},{"label":"East African History","score":0.7733,"slug":"east-african-history"},{"label":"North Africa Travel","score":0.7553,"slug":"north-africa-travel"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers interested in travel writing and ethnological puzzles","Readers drawn to cultural and historical exploration in southern Africa"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Jordan Salama"],"book_id":"9781646222667","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781646222667.jpg?v=4b28385eb519fe4b","score":0.7129,"title":"Stranger in the Desert","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781646222667"},{"authors":["Julian Smith"],"book_id":"9780062030610","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062030610.jpg?v=71161563063b386a","score":0.6894,"title":"Crossing the Heart of Africa","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062030610"},{"authors":["Noam Sienna"],"book_id":"9780253073099","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780253073099.jpg?v=0fb1a2131e64ee4f","score":0.6838,"title":"Jewish Books in North Africa","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780253073099"},{"authors":["Mike Resnick"],"book_id":"9781591025467","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781591025467.jpg?v=d04647754f5e3be5","score":0.6834,"title":"Ivory","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781591025467"},{"authors":["Frank T. 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