Tracing the history of Jerusalem from the time of the conquering of Canaan up until this present day, this is an epic work of the enduring city that is central to three faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Time and time again each of these faiths has had control of the city for centuries only to lose it to one of history’s great conquerors: Neduchadnezzar, Alexander, Vespasian, Richard, Saladin, Allenby. Being on the land route between Europe or Asia and Egypt, which was the real goal of most of the invaders, was the source of many of its problems.

This is a fascinating account of how Jewish and later Christian communities struggled to survive in the city and its ever changing rulers; how the city would time and time again be destroyed but then rebuilt; how each faith sought to retain access to its holy places and some of the strange compromises that resulted; how kings, queens, sultans, emirs and caesars could not resist the call to dwell within its holy walls; and the strange affliction, Jerusalem madness, that every year sees at least 100 visitors placed in psychiatric care.

The author acknowledges that the Bible has the basic facts right but repeatedly says that the writers, “probably exaggerated their accounts.” Some may be surprised to learn that Jews were never absent from the city, although at times they were represented by only a couple of families. The author is left wondering what it is about this city that makes it so central to world history.

By Simon Sebag Montefiore
Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 2011
ISBN: 978 0 297 85265 0

– David McLeod-Jones