The epic history of three thousand years of faith, fanaticism,
bloodshed, and coexistence, from King David to the 21st century, from
the birth of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to the Israel-Palestine
conflict, from the bestselling author of The Romanovs - "Impossible
to put down.... Vastly enjoyable." --The New York Times Book
Review
How
did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the "center 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 who created,
destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem. As well as the many
ordinary Jerusalemites who have left their mark on the city, its cast
varies from Solomon, Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent to
Cleopatra, Caligula and Churchill; from Abraham to Jesus and
Muhammad; from the ancient world of Jezebel, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod
and Nero to the modern times of the Kaiser, Disraeli, Mark Twain,
Lincoln, Rasputin, Lawrence of Arabia and Moshe Dayan.
In
this masterful narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore brings the holy city
to life and draws on the latest scholarship, his own family history,
and a lifetime of study to show that the story of Jerusalem is truly
the story of the world.