Simon Sebag Montefiore - Jerusalem: The Biography

| Non-Fiction | History | epub | 4.5 mb |

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.


Review

Jewish Book Council Book of the Year

"Spectacular. [Montefiore] really tells you what the life of the city has been like and why it means so much. You fall in love with the city. It's a treasure. It's a wonderful book."
--Bill Clinton, #1 Holiday Book Pick on the Today show

"Magnificent. . . Montefiore barely misses a trick or a character in taking us through the city's story with compelling, breathless tension."--Wall Street Journal

"Impossible to put down. . . . Vastly enjoyable."
--New York Times Book Review

"A powerful achievement. . . . At once a scholarly record and an exuberantly written popular tour de force."--New York Review of Books

"Magisterial. . . . As a writer, Montefiore has an elegant turn of phrase and an unerring ear for the anecdote that will cut to the heart of a story. . . . A joy to read."--The Economist

"Already a classic. Jerusalem is an extraordinary achievement, written with imagination and energy. . . . Simon Sebag Montefiore tells this modern story with clarity and admirable impartiality. . . . Read this book."--Financial Times

"Montefiore's towering biography of the city relates in fascinating, horrific and sometimes comical detail the wars to annexe its symbolic sanctity and the daily lives of its inhabitants. This monument of scholarly research is also a compelling story: of human foibles, lust, bravery and chicanery."--The Times of London

"Densely textured. . . . Montefiore embraces Jerusalem's paradoxes in his chronological account, which seeks to avoid hindsight and disclaims a political agenda. He succeeds admirably in remaining evenhanded, a particularly notable achievement."--Los Angeles Times

"A memorable and distinguished history of a city where 'the truth is much less important than the myth'. . . . Splendidly evoked."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Magnificent. . . . A spectacular book for general readers. . . . This is a book about the ages, for the ages."--Wichita Eagle

"Sweeping and absorbing. . . . Montefiore is a master of colorful and telling details and anecdotes. . . . His account is admirably dispassionate and balanced."--Washington Post Book World

"In his stunningly comprehensive history, Simon Sebag Montefiore covers 3,000-plus years of the Earth's most fiercely contested piece of geography. . . . Not only has Montefiore delivered a piece of superb scholarship, he has done so in an extremely easy-to-read style. The author tells the history of the complex relationships that existed between long-dead peoples in a manner that makes them seem human and understandable. . . . Meticulously researched."
--The Newark Star-Ledger

"Few historians have demonstrated the vision, mastery, and boldness necessary to publish on a subject so vast and in such detail as Montefiore. . . . A marvelous panorama."--Library Journal

"This is an essential book for those who wish to understand a city that remains a nexus of world affairs. . . . Although his Jewish family has strong links to the city, Montefiore scrupulously sustains balance and objectivity. . . . Beautifully written, absorbing."--Booklist (starred)

"A panoramic narrative of Jerusalem, organized chronologically and delivered with magisterial flair. Spanning eras from King David to modern Israel with rich anecdotes and vivid detail, this exceptional volume portrays the personalities and worldviews of the dynasties and families that shaped the city throughout its 3,000-year history."--Publishers Weekly (starred)

"An essential text, bathed in blood, lit with faint hope. . . . The author sees Jerusalem not just as the setting for some of history's most savage violence but a microcosm of our world. . . . The story is horribly complex, and Montefiore struggles mightily to make everything clear as well as compelling."--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Four thousand years of history absolutely romped through--a masterwork."--The Evening Standard (UK)

"Immensely readable. . . . Montefiore is that rarest of things: a historian who writes great, weighty tomes that read like the best thrillers. . . . [He] has a visceral understanding of what makes history worth reading. [Montefiore] manages to bring people who have been dead for two millennia alive again and make them breathe, and he has insight into the mind of psychopathic tyrants that makes you wish he were working for the U.S. secretary of state."--Newsweek

If you want to understand the Middle East, read this. (GOOD BOOK GUIDE)

...astoundingly ambitious and triumphantly epic history of the city. (The Daily Telegraph)

Full of faith, power, slaughter and fanaticism; this is a unique chronicle, balanced and critical and wonderfully entertaining. (Chris Burgess The Examiner)

This is a city that has survived Hell, and Montefiore takes you to the heart of it. (James Cleary The Northern Echo)

Magnificent. (Stephen Lewis The York Press)

...never a dull moment (David Bradbury Daily Mail)

...as entertaining as it is elucidating. It's a history that is sharply paced as a novel and fairly brims over with sparkling writing. (Sunday Businesss Post)

...heterogenous, sprawling, erudite and touched by genius (Catholic Herald)

A fittingly vast and dazzling portrait of Jerusalem, utterly compelling from start to finish. (Christopher Hart THE SUNDAY TIMES)

Outstanding, superbly objective, elegantly written and highly entertaining (Saul David MAIL ON SUNDAY)

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 (Barnaby Rogerson THE INDEPENDENT)

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. (Munro Price THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

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. (David Hepworth THE WORD MAGAZINE)

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. (Michael Binyon THE TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW)