Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag MontefioreMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Starting in the ancient world of Canaanite and Israelite settlements up through early 2000s, Montefiore tells us an epic, sweeping story of the history of Jerusalem. I was curious why the subtitle "The Biography" was used; but it seems to work better than the most likely other candidate: 'The History'. First, there is something of the city, its past, and present that is alive. In our imaginations but also the streets themselves. I recall from my visits, Jerusalem felt different. I've been to other cities, ancient and filled with ruins, but the ancient stones of Jerusalem are still alive: they are still part of the everyday living of the city in a way the Roman Forum is not. Second, Montefiore uses a lot of personal antidotes and individual biographies of figures through Jerusalem's history to tell his story. While there is plenty of what one might expect in a history book: battles, empires conquering, dates, and archeology, much of the focus is individuals, great and small, who have played some part in Jerusalem's story. This makes it more of a biography than simply a history.
Montefiore walks a fine line between Jewish, Christian, and Muslim views of the city and their respective relationships to it. His point is not to adjudicate between disputes but to layout these views, using their own voices. There is nothing of a polemic here.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned a lot(and John Lee's narration is quite good), there were points where it gets a little bogged down in minutiae or too focused on tangential details of some of the life-stories he uses to tell the history.
View all my reviews
