Jerusalem: The Biography - New and Updated 2024 edition Paperback – 5 Sept. 2024

I came to this book as an Arab reader, growing up with songs, poems, and books written about beloved Jerusalem, but never have I come across a book offering such a luxurious detailed and honest view and at such a scale! Written with remarkable neutrality and taking us through the diverse and rich history of the most disputed and news making region in the world! This comprehensive, and unpatronising treatment of Jerusalem's past is neither overwhelmingly scholarly to gloss over the gory (and fascinating) details, nor too hurried as to miss out important facts. Simon Sebag Montefiore combines the rare talent of total political and cultural understanding with a great and most eloquent narrating skill!"Jerusalem, the Biography" is a new sort of History, written as a biography, through the people who made Jerusalem, starting with King David and ending with Barrack Obama, over a span of 3000 years. Each section is about a person who, made, destroyed, believed in, or fought for Jerusalem, some are ordinary people, some are monsters and dictators. There is massacre, siege, blood, violence, but also beautiful poetry.The story of Jerusalem, is truly (as the author expressed) the story of the world, as well, of the Middle East, of religion, of holiness, of empire! I was thrilled to read about one of the greatest philosophers, the Arab historiographer "Ibn Khaldoon", about Suleiman the Magnificent, Caliph Muawiya, Saladin Dynasty, Druze princess and angelic voiced Singer "Asmahan", the Hashemite (Sherifian) Dynasty, and most exciting to read was some poignant poetry by Nizar Qabbani.One can read it as an adventure story, or as an explanation of why the Middle East is what it is today, I felt infused with great knowledge, one that I could never acquire if I read a thousand books. The book offers correct answers and honest background of many of the issues of the region today such as, Israel vs. Palestine, America vs. Iran, written without an agenda, and with remarkable impartiality. And I must not forget the most fascinating details over the Apocalypse-the End of Days.To fit such a swathe of history into a 650-page-turner is a bit of an art form in itself. The book also offers wonderfully informative illustrations and photographs, family trees, and even maps.I thoroughly enjoyed three of Simon Sebag Montefiore's previous books (or rather masterpieces), but this has to be my most enjoyable read of a history, I have no words to do the author nor the book justice, well-paced and absolutely gripping, this book is a treasure -trove, and I highly recommend it for all readers of different faiths, political, cultural backgrounds, well versed in the Middle East or not.

Alternative title #2: This is a book for intermediate historians and brave beginners.Alternative title #3: Everyone's here, so enjoy access to the back catalogue before making your mind up about today.Housekeeping: There's a typo (a surplus letter 'a') on line 3, page 344 of the 1st hardback edition. On page 459, "The streets "teemed crowded." On page 488, missing 'of' "...something out (of) Eliot's Cocktail Party..." On page 515, a missing 'of' in "...the practicality (of) a Palestinian state..."Forgive me for expressing them up front, but you might as well know where my prejudices lie before you listen to my opinion. I read history to give me a richer sense of today. Rationally? Is today's news on Syria, Egypt or Gaza different enough from yesterday's to mean that tomorrow will see substantial change? Romantically? Just touch the past and dwell there a while by, for example, touching the blue & gold gates on Piccadilly inserted into Green Park's iron fence opposite Half Moon Street, and sense the presence of Georgiana and 18th century Whigs, from whose Devonshire House the two gates were salvaged. (Look through said gate towards Buckingham Palace and spy the twin gate. Were they connected by a thoroughfare as the trees suggest...down which who travelled...when and in what attire...for what event?) So, a serious interest in current events and a romantic sense of wonder draw me to reading history. Both head and heart agree that this book was a fabulous read.I thoroughly enjoyed this kind of anecdote: "Weizmann was Zionism's grand seigneur, dressed in Savile Row suits, more at home in the salons of Mayfair than on the sunbeaten farms of Galilee and now well-off from founder shares in Marks & Spencer, donated by his friends, the Sieff family (p. 446)." Jemima Khan's grand-dad founded the King David Hotel. Forbears of Yitzhak Rabin and Edward Said pop up and even Franz von Papen makes an appearance. But I could keep up, and if my excitement at these references is losing your enthusiasm, then it might be the wrong book for you. It refers to so much and so many that you can easily get left behind by the sheer weight of knowledge with which you have to keep up to enjoy the next chapter. I think the three star reviewer, Steve, is spot on in accusing the author of "trying to put a gallon instead of a quart into a pint pot", but I applaud the gallon and don't really care about the pint pot. Others might, though, and this is probably the major source of controversy with this book. It lacks the intimate characterisation of a biography, but provides a wonderful historical storyboard, peppered with entertaining gossip. Don't expect to cherish every page - it is a storyboard and a fine foundation for a general History of the World - a much more enjoyable read than, say, H.A.L. Fisher or J.M. Roberts.The more history you read, the easier it gets; like a soap opera, you become familiar with the characters, their habitats and their neighbours. Intermediates will enjoy it most, but brave beginners should have a go too - there's always Wikipedia to fill in the gaps."Here, more than anywhere else on earth, we crave, we hope and we search for any drop of the elixir of tolerance, sharing and generosity to act as the antidote to the arsenic of prejudice, exclusivity and possessiveness." (p.510)

Given that Jerusalem remains the most contested city on earth, sacred to 3 major religions and at the very heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, a well-produced and widely available new study should be a cause for rejoicing and to a considerable degree this is so. If you are looking for an introduction to the city and its 5,000 years of history written by a learned largely impartial author with some good illustrations you will be well pleased with this book. Montefiore is a sure-footed guide with a deep knowledge of the sources, but who writes in a very entertaining style so that the colouful characters who have injected romance, poetry, violence, sex and even comedy are painted larger than life adding an important counterbalance to the bitter fighting and political intrigue that typify much of Jerusalem's history. Montefiore is very effective at demonstrating how for so many Jerusalem is an ideal not a reality and that many of those who claim ownership of particular holy sites know little of their real and often hugely complex histories.For those readers who are looking for a more detailed and penetrative analysis of the city there may be a degree of disappointment. Montefiore has chosen an all encompassing, chronological approach which means he is trying to cover 5,000 years in 500 pages. Obviously the result is a very superficial study in many ways. The first two thousand years pass in a jumble of names, tribes and places which defy clear understanding. Key periods such as the time of Suleiman get 3 pages and even the period from 1948 gets only 23 pages. There is also little new in what Montefiore has to say about the future of the fabled city. Yet this remains a good read which will be thought provoking to all and encourage many to extend their reading further.