JERUSALEM: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore [rare books]

Book Summary

The epic story of Jerusalem told through the lives of the men and women who created, ruled and inhabited it.

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.

About the Author: 

Simon Sebag Montefiore is a celebrated British historian, novelist, and broadcaster, writing in more than forty languages. He earned his Ph.D. from Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

His notable works include award-winning biographies such as Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar and Young Stalin, as well as historical narratives like Catherine the Great & Potemkin and The Romanovs. Jerusalem: The Biography was a global bestseller, earned the Jewish Book Council’s Book of the Year Award, and won the Wenjin Book Prize in China.

An experienced historian and public figure, Montefiore has also written novels—including the Moscow Trilogy—and curated historical anthologies. He’s presented popular BBC TV series such as Jerusalem, Rome, and Byzantium