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

The author has amassed a staggering amount of detail in this impressive work of scholarship. It is not a catalogue of dry facts, but is instead a page-turning account of the often very bloody story of a place that figures prominently in the history of the Middle East and three of the great religions of the World. The story is told through the lives of one dynastic family after another that gives the book a sense of continuity as power shifts back and forth among different factions and religions. I knew that there had been savage times in Jerusalem, but hadn't realize that they had been an almost continuous fact of life for the inhabitants. The huge number killed over the millenniums is jaw-dropping.People have lived in the area for over 7000 years, but the book takes up the story with the birth of Judaism and names familiar from the Old Testament. Inevitably the narrative is inextricably linked to the histories of the three religions for each of whom Jerusalem is the spiritual fountain-head. The author is even-handed in his accounts of the good and bad characters among the Jews, Christians and Muslims. He won't be popular with fundamentalist Christians, who believe that the Bible is the unequivocal word of God, as he points out the inconsistencies among the Gospels. I'm not qualified to comment on the other two great religions, but am struck by how much common ground there was among the three faith-systems in their early days and how subsequent adherents have introduced much of the doctrinal conflict.A book that scholars will appreciate with its prodigious detail, and plethora of footnotes and appendices, but it's also a book that can be enjoyed by layperson, such as myself, who are interested in getting a flavour of the history of Jerusalem, without absorbing the immense amount of detail and strings of unfamiliar names that are soon forgotten, because it's a roller-coaster of a narrative centering on the people who shaped the story. There are lots of photos and, at the back of the book, helpful diagrams of the family trees of the different dynasties, plus plans of the city and maps of the region at at different times in history.I found the last few chapters of the book, covering the last century and half, particularly interesting as they gave me greater understanding of the present-day conflicts in the Middle-East and what drives the protagonists in their mutual suspicion. I happen to be re-reading Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich at the same time and the section of the Montefiore book dealing with the Middle-East during and after the Second World War dovetails very neatly giving a view from the Middle-East.

Impressively well- researched and informed by the family’s own history, this is an awesome book, throughout. For me, the more interesting chapters are at the beginning and end - the ‘setting the scene’ and concluding chapters, which both deal with contemporary reality are hugely impressive!

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.

From the beginning of time to the present day, Jerusalem has been the centre of conflict. Montefiore has left no stone unturned is this magnificent biography of the holiest of holy cities in the Middle East and indeed the modern world. There is too much to take in in one read and in the fullness of time I will return to Jerusalem: The Biography - A history of the Middle East, but not yet. To understand why the Middle East and the Holy Land is such a tinderbox, a read of this Biography will give the reader an unbiased understanding as to why. Since the beginning of time there has been conflict and where we are today makes one wonder if there will be a peacable end. For my part i reserve judgement.