Jerusalem : The Biography A History of the Middle East - New & Updated

Thoroughly updated and revised for 2024, JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY offers a compelling history of the Middle East, told through the lens of the Holy City and the Holy Land. From King David to the wars and chaos of today, this book explores how Jerusalem's story is, in fact, the story of the world. Known as the universal city, Jerusalem is the capital of two peoples and the shrine of three faiths. It remains the battlefield for today's multifaceted conflicts and, for believers, the setting for Judgement Day and the Apocalypse.

Key Questions Explored:

• 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?
• Why is the Holy Land so important not just to the region and its many new players, but to the wider world as well?

A Richly Detailed Narrative:

Drawing on new archives and a lifetime's study, Montefiore unveils the ever-changing city and turbulent region through the lives of:

• Kings, empresses, amirs, sultans, and caliphs
• Presidents, autocrats, imperialists, and warlords
• Poets, prophets, saints, rabbis, conquerors, and whores

These figures created, destroyed, chronicled, and believed in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, shaping its extraordinary history.

A Modern Classic:

This book is not only the epic story of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism, coexistence, power, and myth but also a freshly updated, carefully balanced history of the Middle East. It spans:

• The birth of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• The Israel-Palestine conflict
• The emergence of new players and powers in the twenty-first century

Discover how today's Middle East was forged, how the Holy Land became sacred, and how Jerusalem became the only city that exists twice—in heaven and on earth.