Jerusalem: the biography

Jerusalem is a universal city, the capital of two peoples and a shrine for three faiths, representing the prize of empires and the site of Judgment Day. This epic history spans three thousand years of faith, conflict, and coexistence, tracing the city’s evolution from a small town to the Holy City, pivotal for peace in the Middle East. Through a gripping narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore brings to life the many incarnations of this ever-changing city, detailing its biography through the wars, love affairs, and revelations of influential figures—kings, prophets, poets, and ordinary citizens—who shaped its destiny. The cast includes historical giants like Solomon, Saladin, and Suleiman the Magnificent, alongside figures like Cleopatra, Caligula, and Churchill, as well as Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad. Montefiore draws on new archives and a lifetime of study to explore themes of sanctity, mysticism, and identity, presenting a unique chronicle of a city that many believe will be central to the Apocalypse. This narrative reveals how Jerusalem became the city that exists in both heaven and on earth.