In this highly readable first-person account "we learn the history of Kibbutz Degania from one of its first members, beginning in 1911, when there were only 12, and through its growth as a community and center of agriculture, its joys and its difficulties. It's an attractive, interesting read... featuring such major figures as Trumpeldor, Arthur Ruppin, and A. D. Gordon... through the years of the British Mandate, the Second World War, the Jewish Brigade, the War of Independence and after... The author is nostalgic for the past with its ideals, its extraordinary atmosphere, austere customs, poverty and warm collegiality... This is a book that deserves to be read and pondered." — Dante Lattes, La Rassegna Mensile di Israel

"A Village by the Jordan: The Story of Degania tells the story of the first collective village, founded at the beginning of the present century. The authenticity of this account is enhanced by the fact that its author, Joseph Baratz, was one of the founders of the village and has continued to play a major part in its development from a precarious border settlement of twelve young men and women into a prosperous community of over a thousand souls. The story is one of human endurance, hope and despair, toil and struggle, failure and final success. Its pages testify to the determined dedication of its members to create a just and meaningful life for themselves and others. The author tells his story with a spontaneity and simplicity that mark any truly creative experience. Baratz refrains from idealizing and embellishing; he shows throughout a sense of historical perspective and presents events and personalities in their proper light. He never resorts to wishful interpretation; the significance of what he relates becomes evident by dint of the momentum inherent in the story, which thus assumes the additional importance of an authentic historical document... A Village by the Jordan is indeed both enlightening and inspiring." — Shaoul Hareli, Studies in Bibliography and Booklore