Jerusalem: The Biography

The epic story of Jerusalem told through the lives of the men and women who created ruled and inhabited itJerusalem 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 3000 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 JerusalemDrawing 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