Jerusalem
On sale
10th February 2011
Price: £25
Genre
Asian History / Biography: Historical, Political & Military / History / History Of Religion / Israel / Middle Eastern History / Social & Cultural History
Select a format
Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilizations. From King David to Barack Obama, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is the epic history of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence.
How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the ‘centre of the world’ and now the key to peace in the Middle East? In a gripping narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city in its many incarnations, bringing every epoch and character blazingly to life. Jerusalem’s biography is told through the wars, love affairs and revelations of the men and women – kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores – who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem.
Drawing on new archives, current scholarship, his own family papers and a lifetime’s study, Montefiore illuminates the essence of sanctity and mysticism, identity and empire in a unique chronicle of the city that many believe will be the setting for the Apocalypse. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem, and the only city that exists twice – in heaven and on earth.
Read by Andrew Sachs
(p) 2011 Orion Publishing Group
How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the ‘centre of the world’ and now the key to peace in the Middle East? In a gripping narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city in its many incarnations, bringing every epoch and character blazingly to life. Jerusalem’s biography is told through the wars, love affairs and revelations of the men and women – kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores – who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem.
Drawing on new archives, current scholarship, his own family papers and a lifetime’s study, Montefiore illuminates the essence of sanctity and mysticism, identity and empire in a unique chronicle of the city that many believe will be the setting for the Apocalypse. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem, and the only city that exists twice – in heaven and on earth.
Read by Andrew Sachs
(p) 2011 Orion Publishing Group
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
Magisterial . . . Montefiore has been preparing all his life to write this particular book. He steers a clear path through the religious animosities and political intrigues, adopting a strikingly apolitical tone
Excellent . . . It explains beautifully the competition for cramped real estate of the three monotheistic religions in this place that feels once again like the vexed navel of the world. It will make you appreciate the blessing and the curse of this city
A wonderfully vibrant account . . . Balanced, fair and above all colourful, Montefiore's narrative does justice to every religious tradition and confirms his reputation as one of our finest popular historians
A fittingly vast and dazzling portrait of Jerusalem, utterly compelling from start to finish
The must-read history . . . a master work
For any strident virtue-signallers who think the issues in the Middle East can be reduced to a slogan or easy labels, a definitive, apolitical, mesmerising account of the most invaded and occupied city on Earth and the carnage that built today's headlines.
Anyone with an interest in history should read this, if only to be reminded of just how much history has rolled back and forth over this pile of stones between 1458 and today. In fact, when compared with the carnage visited on it by the Romans, Crusaders, Albanians and, in the 12th century, the teenage King of Norway, the last 100 years there have been relatively peaceful.
This is a city that has survived Hell, and Montefiore takes you to the heart of it
Never a dull moment
Full of faith, power, slaughter and fanaticism; this is a unique chronicle, balanced and critical and wonderfully entertaining.
A scintillating portrait of Jerusalem. Utterly compelling and a moving picture of the city which has one way or another affected civilisation for thousands of years. Sebag Montefiore has become one of the greatest historians of his generation.
A brilliantly detailed history... as entertaining as it is erudite
Compelling and thought-provoking...Working on an immense chronological and thematic canvas Sebag Montefiore does his subject more than justice. He narrates the terrible history of Jerusalem vividly and graphically... fascinating but ghastly.
Heterogenous, sprawling, erudite and touched by genius
An epic and utterly absorbing study of a city whose modern religious, political and ethnic rivalries can be understood only in the context of its preceding 3,000 years of history. Montefiore writes with tremendous verve, sensitivity to historical controversy and an exceptional eye for the entertaining detail
Packed with fascinating and grisly detail, a gripping account of war, betrayal, rape, massacre, sadistic torture, fanaticism, feuds, corruption, hypocrisy and spirituality. Montefiore's narrative is remarkably objective. A reliable and compelling account
A brilliant and balanced narrative that consistently views Jerusalem as the capital city of two peoples and three faiths
Jerusalem: The Biography reads like a novel, it moves at a blistering pace ... It opens like a movie, stories of gore, and death and destruction
Ambitious and arresting . . . A powerful achievement, erudite without pedantry, and intimate with the complex archaeology . . . at once a scholarly record and an exuberantly written popular tour de force
Read the book from cover to cover. There is never a dull page
Simon Sebag Montefiore's history of Jerusalem is a labour of love and scholarship... a considerable achievement... he has a wonderful ear for the absurdities and adventurers of the past... totally gripping... vivid compelling, engaged, engrossing, knowledgeable
Spectacular. Montefiore really tells you what the life of the city has been like and why it means to much to everyone . . . You fall in the love with the city and it breaks your heart that people can't make peace over it . . . It's a treasure. It's a wonderful book
Astounding, ambitious and triumphantly epic
It is a gripping read, told with verve and fluency, and explains why Jerusalem, like a living person, has touched the heart of so many cultures, East and West, for so long
Outstanding, superbly objective, elegantly written and highly entertaining
As entertaining as it is elucidating. It's a history that is sharply paced as a novel and fairly brims over with sparkling writing