Book Review: Jerusalem, The Biography.

For the past several months this has served as my favourite breakfast companion. With international travel only just opening recently in the UK, this book has been one of the ways I've found to travel remotely, through time and space. A wonderful source for the wanderings of the mind, and inspiring future adventures.

I think the city of Jerusalem needs no introduction. At the heart of current political strife, historical conquests, religious turmoil and fusing cultures, such a city surely deserves an equally compelling biography.

Historian, author and TV presenter Simon Sebag Montefiore offers just this, a saga of truly epic proportions, recounting over three-thousand years of history. Jerusalem, a settlement being referred to throughout history as both "black widow", "old nymphomaniac", "centre of the world" and "golden goblet full of scorpions", it goes without saying that the task of trying to tell this story is gargantuan, complex and arduous, but Montefiore triumphs in doing so in just over six-hundred pages, complete with detailed maps and extensive family trees.

The concept of Jerusalem, The Biography revolutionizes the genre of historical writing, because although its overall chronological structure is familiar, sections are broken down into the lives of the characters which have shaped the city. From the original Canaanite settlers to modern politicians such as David Ben-Gurion, via Herod, Nero, Saladin and many more characters, conquerors and crusaders, tyrants, prophets and pilgrims, empresses and whores, musicians and missionaries. To the author, Jerusalem is a person, so it only makes sense that she should receive a biography, not just a history. Another achievement of this beautiful work of storytelling is the presentation of new sources, many of which were found in Montefiore's own family archives, as well as numerous original sources not yet translated into English.

I can only scratch the surface on the breadth of this book, and feel as though I ought to read it again so as to properly absorb its overwhelming amount of information. As Montefiore explains in an interview, through this novel he is attempting to cover not only the story of Jerusalem, but that of the world, a deep exploration into the dynamics that have shaped our global society, even a study on Holiness itself.

I found this book to be completely accessible yet thoroughly researched and tremendously well-informed, without a political agenda and with the right balance of passion, humour and sensitivity. A must-read for anyone searching for context to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, anyone interested in world history, anyone at all really, from the Middle-Eastern history expert to the utter novice such as myself.

I sincerely hope to be able to visit this city one day, and I am sure I will not be disappointed if it is anything like its biography.

Thanks for making it to the end of what was meant to be a brief review! If anything, I suppose the lack of brevity should hint at my passion and evangelical excitement for this book!

Please do get in touch with your thoughts or any reading recommendations!