Describe Books Toward Jerusalem: The Biography
| Original Title: | Jerusalem: The Biography |
| ISBN: | 0297852655 (ISBN13: 9780297852650) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Wilhelm II, German Emperor, T.E. Lawrence, Herod the Great, Pontius Pilate, Richard I of England, Saladin, Conrad of Montferrat, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, Baldwin V of Jerusalem, Sibylla of Jerusalem, Herod Antipas, Yasser Arafat, Muhammad, Yitzhak Rabin, Al-Adil I, Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin I, Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, Melisende, Fulk, King of Jerusalem, Baldwin III, Amalric I, Guy of Lusignan, Isabella I of Jerusalem, Henry II, Count of Champagne, Herod Agrippa, Jesus, Winston Churchill |
| Setting: | Jerusalem(Israel) |
Simon Sebag Montefiore
Hardcover | Pages: 752 pages Rating: 4.02 | 7797 Users | 863 Reviews
Details Of Books Jerusalem: The Biography
| Title | : | Jerusalem: The Biography |
| Author | : | Simon Sebag Montefiore |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 752 pages |
| Published | : | 2011 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Religion. Cultural. Israel. Biography |
Relation As Books Jerusalem: The Biography
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 dazzling 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. As well as the many ordinary Jerusalemites who have left their mark on the city, its cast varies from Solomon, Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent to Cleopatra, Caligula and Churchill; from Abraham to Jesus and Muhammad; from the ancient city of Jezebel, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod and Nero to the modern times of the Kaiser, Disraeli, Mark Twain, Rasputin and Lawrence of Arabia.
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 is believed 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.
Rating Of Books Jerusalem: The Biography
Ratings: 4.02 From 7797 Users | 863 ReviewsWrite-Up Of Books Jerusalem: The Biography
City of the Book My first sight of Jerusalem was in a taxi, driving up from the airport at Tel Aviv. It was a winter afternoon in late November, with the sun well down on the horizon. The colour tones were all light-grey, not drab, just grey upon grey, dramatically punctuated by a brilliant flash of gold from the Dome of the Rock: it was almost as if I had been allowed the briefest glimpse of the celestial city, Zion itself! It was the new city we drove into, with the old beyond, the Turkish'Jerusalem: The Biography', as the name would suggest, is an in-depth biographical-history of the 'Holy City of Jerusalem'. It addresses a wide range of themes, other than just pure chronological-historical narrative. Namely, religion (encompassing the rise of faiths, and their battle for the city), politics, trade, population booms and declines etc... In other words, it examines all the facets required to get a picture of the city at any given time in its long history and it does this with
Simon Sebag-Montefiore's acclaimed and bestselling history of Jerusalem is an intriguing read, full of interesting lesser known facts, personages and new angles. At times, it reads almost like a well-paced novel, and is as hard to put down. Certainly, it provides a timely, as well as carefully balanced, account of this extraordinary city's long history, from the earliest times to the present day.The prologue of this heavy volume begins with the destruction of the Second Temple and genocide of
Hmm. This was a nicely flowing layman's history of Jerusalem, over the 4,000 or so years from the time King David consecrated it as his capitol until 1967. The writing was easy to read, and Sebag Montefiore peppered the narrative with a healthy dose of salacious historical gossip to keep the reader going when things ran dry.It was, however, a very long and detailed read, a mixture of the more relevant and the less relevant, and a non-academic work which means it needs to be taken with a grain of
Let me explain my rating. This book was extremely hard for me - all the way through. I knew if I took a break with another book, I would never pick it up again. Nevertheless, the book IS informative and I AM glad I read it, but:-Books of non-fiction do NOT have to be this hard to get through. It is non-fiction books like this that make people think the genre is difficult. I protest. It need not be so, and say this with my one star rating! (Later changed to two because I did learn about the
If there's one city that needs a biography, it must be Jerusalem. In a highly readable style, Simon Sebag Montefiore takes us on a tour from the earliest recorded history to today's Jerusalem.The history of Jerusalem is a chronicle of colonists and pilgrims, whether they are Arab, Jew or Christians. The city itself witnessed a large amount of different masters, each with their own beliefs and each thinking they were the true and only religions. Nowhere in the world did so many people die on
A striking history of a city from it's inception in prehistory, through its trials and tribulations, colonists, pilgrims and invaders up to its current precarious position. It's mainly the story of the main players calling Jerusalem their home, or having a major role to play in the story, and as such there is a whistle stop feel to the book (11th Century? Oh, Crusades...) but so long as you're happy to accept that further reading will be required you'll be fine. So... where it was good - it
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