Jerusalem

The Biography

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 25 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

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 three thousand years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence.

How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the “center of the world” and now the key to peace in the Middle East? In a gripping 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 world of Jezebel, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod and Nero to the modern times of the Kaiser, Disraeli, Mark Twain, Lincoln, Rasputin, Lawrence of Arabia and Moshe Dayan.

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 many believe 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2011 Simon Sebag Montefiore (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Magnificent . . . The city’s first ‘biography’ - a panoptic narrative of its rulers and citizens, heroes and villains, harlots and saints . . . Montefiore barely misses a trick or a character in taking us through the city’s story with compelling, breathless tension.” (Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal)

“Impossible to put down . . . A vastly enjoyable chronicle [with] many fascinating asides . . . Montefiore has a fine eye for the telling detail, and also a powerful feel for a good story.” (Jonathan Rosen, New York Times Book Review)

“Magisterial . . . As a writer, Montefiore has an elegant turn of phrase and an unerring ear for the anecdote that will cut to the heart of a story . . . It is this kind of detail that makes Jerusalem a particular joy to read.” (The Economist)

Mesmerizing. Masterfully compiled.

Mesmerizing. Masterfully compiled, tastefully auditioned. The story is gripping and full of important history facts and interesting trivia nuggets along the way. Last sections show a clear bias as was expected from any human author of a certain background. Overall, amazing experience. Highly recommended for those interested in current Middle East political mess.

Poor early history

Maybe I shouldn't have experienced a more academic historical view of Jerusalem, but it hardly seems wise to base the early history exclusively on the fables from the Bible and Torah.

Some scholarship and research could have helped to explain to a listener what we understand the old city was like from excavations and research and not just paraphrased the old testament and call it a job well done.

The later half was much better researched and balanced, and the modern period was very enlightening.

I just could finish this book

Needs a better narrator. I just could finish listening to this book. In my opinion it was written in a very subjective view.

Top Five Instantly!

absolutely loved this book. The history of the world wrapped in the history of its most important city. I will read this one again and again.

Great book, covers a lot of history

I loved this book but it was a difficult listen as it covered a lot of history that I was not familiar with. I still learned a lot and really enjoyed it but it was hard to keep up with all of the names and events over 3,000 years of history. This is one that I will probably come back to.

Amazing story!

While the story is fascinating and the narrator did an incredible job pronouncing the myriad of Middle Eastern names, the delivery was difficult to listen to at times.

Mind boggling history

It's unbelievable the amount of people that have suffered, die for Jerusalem also credibly fast every culture in the world somehow try to have a foothold in Jerusalem this book does an excellent job on teaching history and footnote facts anyone who has an interest in Jerusalem or the Middle East this book is a must read!

yes it is long, but not boring to me

I see complaints that this book is long. If readers checked the number of pages, or, in my case, checked the time to listen on Audible, the length should not be a surprise. John Lee does the narration here, and is, in my opinion, as good a narrator as I have heard. The disturbing thing to me is that there seems to be as much religious/sectarian violence now as there was in any time in the 'barbaric' past. This book could be subtitled 'people behaving badly.'
I found Montefiore's prose a delight to hear (I fiercely liked his two volume biography of Stalin, though I was ambivalent about his Romanov book.) I( liked his following different families as a way to present he book. (Listening to Neil Oliver's "love Letter to the British Isles," I was struck that what we call the 'stone age,' could be mainly because stone survives while plants and animals decompose. That makes social history conjectural.) I thought that Montefiore did a good job using the sources that he had. Some things are left out or not fully explored, but this book is over 25 hours long as it is.
So credit to Simon Sebag Montefiore and John Lee for creating a listening experience that I had a hard time putting down.

I really really wanted to love this book

I love the history, I love his approach, I love how easy it is to listen to, however I just got weary of having him say that the Bible is wrong, or written by someone else, or at a different time...a very "liberal" approach.

History of Jerusalem at its best

This is the best history of Jerusalem as a whole, including all major religions with great objectivity.