October 26, 2011
History of Jerusalem is biography
The interest in certain topics of history seems to be endless. Jerusalem is one of them.
The oldest part of the city was settled around 4,000 BCE. Three of the world’s most dominant religions consider it a holy place. It has been captured and recaptured 44 times. And, of course, the fighting over its future continues to this day.
Now, a new book on Jerusalem, a biography, draws on new scholarship and the family papers of Sir Moses Montefiore to reveal even more about the City of Peace.
Simon Sebag Montefiore, a great great nephew of Moses, worked for more than three years on “Jerusalem: The Biography,” and if it’s like any of his previous books, it should be worth the read.
Montefiore called it a biography instead of a history because each chapter tells the story of one person who had a lasting impact on the city. These central players include everyone from Caligula to Churchill to Jesus Christ.
At more than 600 pages, it has the effect of coming across as an epic and vast history. And, Montefiore spares no gruesome details in recounting the violence committed by various groups in the city. There are descriptions of, among other things, Roman soldiers disemboweling Jewish residents in 70 CE.
Montefiore should be used to blood soaked history by now. His previous books include biographies of Joseph Stalin and Catherine the Great, both of which earned Montefiore numerous awards including the Samuel Johnson, Duff Cooper, and Marsh Biography Prizes as well as the LA Times Book Prize for Biography.