Presents five conversations between novelist and former "Newsweek" correspondnet Robert Littell and Shimon Peres, in which Peres refelcts on: his youth in shetl and kibbutz; the impact of the Holocaust on world affairs; what it means to be a Jew; and the ongoing struggle to end terrorism and forge peace between Israel and its neighbours. Completed in late 1996 and 1997, the interviews in the text reflect the changed state of Israel since the assassination of Yitzak Rabin and the subsequent election of a Likud-led governemnt in Israel and its renegotiation of aspects of the Oslo agreements. Peres speaks of his negotiations with Arafat and of his relationship with Rabin. He gives his views on public figures he has known (Mitterand, Yeltsin, Reagan and Clinton), the qualities of good leadership, and the dangers of fundamentalism and religious parties.