Top

We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.

A new, updated, revised edition of JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY, the wider history of the Middle East through the lens of the Holy City, from King David to today.

The story of Jerusalem is the story of the world.

Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilisations. 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? Drawing on new archives and a lifetime’s study, Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city through the wars, love affairs and revelations of the kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem.

A classic of modern literature, this is not only the epic story of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and co-existence, but also a freshly-updated history of the entire Middle East, from King David to the twenty-first century, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the wars of today. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem – the only city that exists twice – in heaven and on earth.

Reviews

CATHOLIC HERALD
Heterogenous, sprawling, erudite and touched by genius
INDEPENDENT
Simon Sebag Montefiore's history of Jerusalem is a labour of love and scholarship... a considerable achievement... he has a wonderful ear for the absurdities and adventurers of the past... totally gripping... vivid compelling, engaged, engrossing, knowledgeable
Antony Beevor, GUARDIAN
Packed with fascinating and grisly detail, a gripping account of war, betrayal, rape, massacre, sadistic torture, fanaticism, feuds, corruption, hypocrisy and spirituality. Montefiore's narrative is remarkably objective. A reliable and compelling account
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Compelling and thought-provoking...Working on an immense chronological and thematic canvas Sebag Montefiore does his subject more than justice. He narrates the terrible history of Jerusalem vividly and graphically... fascinating but ghastly.
Matt Frei, GUARDIAN
Excellent . . . It explains beautifully the competition for cramped real estate of the three monotheistic religions in this place that feels once again like the vexed navel of the world. It will make you appreciate the blessing and the curse of this city
SUNDAY TIMES
A fittingly vast and dazzling portrait of Jerusalem, utterly compelling from start to finish
Tom Holland, DAILY TELEGRAPH
Astounding, ambitious and triumphantly epic
THE TIMES
It is a gripping read, told with verve and fluency, and explains why Jerusalem, like a living person, has touched the heart of so many cultures, East and West, for so long
SUNDAY BUSINESS POST
As entertaining as it is elucidating. It's a history that is sharply paced as a novel and fairly brims over with sparkling writing
MAIL ON SUNDAY
Outstanding, superbly objective, elegantly written and highly entertaining
DAILY MAIL
Never a dull moment
THE EXAMINER
Full of faith, power, slaughter and fanaticism; this is a unique chronicle, balanced and critical and wonderfully entertaining.
NORTHERN ECHO
This is a city that has survived Hell, and Montefiore takes you to the heart of it
The Economist
Magisterial . . . Montefiore has been preparing all his life to write this particular book. He steers a clear path through the religious animosities and political intrigues, adopting a strikingly apolitical tone
DAILY EXPRESS
A scintillating portrait of Jerusalem. Utterly compelling and a moving picture of the city which has one way or another affected civilisation for thousands of years. Sebag Montefiore has become one of the greatest historians of his generation.
former President Bill Clinton, THE TODAY SHOW, NBC
Spectacular. Montefiore really tells you what the life of the city has been like and why it means to much to everyone . . . You fall in the love with the city and it breaks your heart that people can't make peace over it . . . It's a treasure. It's a wonderful book
Charles Moore, DAILY TELEGRAPH
Read the book from cover to cover. There is never a dull page
David Sexton, EVENING STANDARD
The must-read history . . . a master work
Eugene Rogan, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, Oxford University and author of The Arabs: A History
A brilliant and balanced narrative that consistently views Jerusalem as the capital city of two peoples and three faiths
Colin Thubron, NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
Ambitious and arresting . . . A powerful achievement, erudite without pedantry, and intimate with the complex archaeology . . . at once a scholarly record and an exuberantly written popular tour de force
TATLER
A brilliantly detailed history... as entertaining as it is erudite
Books of the Year, FINANCIAL TIMES
An epic and utterly absorbing study of a city whose modern religious, political and ethnic rivalries can be understood only in the context of its preceding 3,000 years of history. Montefiore writes with tremendous verve, sensitivity to historical controversy and an exceptional eye for the entertaining detail
THE WORD MAGAZINE
Anyone with an interest in history should read this, if only to be reminded of just how much history has rolled back and forth over this pile of stones between 1458 and today. In fact, when compared with the carnage visited on it by the Romans, Crusaders, Albanians and, in the 12th century, the teenage King of Norway, the last 100 years there have been relatively peaceful.
Dominic Sandbrook, Books of the Year, SUNDAY TIMES
A wonderfully vibrant account . . . Balanced, fair and above all colourful, Montefiore's narrative does justice to every religious tradition and confirms his reputation as one of our finest popular historians