“ Jerusalem: The Biography reads like a richly drawn novel, with complex characters—kings, priests, philo-Semites, and anti-Semites—and riveting anecdotes. It also puts the region’s contemporary conflict into perspective.”

— Daily Beast/Newsweek

“A memorable and distinguished history of a city where ‘the truth is much less important than the myth’…. Splendidly evoked.”

—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Magnificent…. A spectacular book for general readers…. This is a book about the ages, for the ages.”

— The Wichita Eagle

“Sweeping and absorbing…. Montefiore is a master of colorful and telling details and anecdotes…. His account is admirably dispassionate and balanced.”

— The Washington Post Book World

“In his stunningly comprehensive history, Simon Sebag Montefiore covers 3,000-plus years of the Earth’s most fiercely contested piece of geography…. Not only has Montefiore delivered a piece of superb scholarship, he has done so in an extremely easy-to-read style. The author tells the history of the complex relationships that existed between long-dead peoples in a manner that makes them seem human and understandable…. Meticulously researched.”

—The Star-Ledger (Newark)

“Few historians have demonstrated the vision, mastery, and boldness necessary to publish on a subject so vast and in such detail as Montefiore…. A marvelous panorama.”

— Library Journal

“Densely textured…. Montefiore embraces Jerusalem’s paradoxes in his chronological account, which seeks to avoid hindsight and disclaims a political agenda. He succeeds admirably in remaining evenhanded, a particularly notable achievement.”

— Los Angeles Times

“This is an essential book for those who wish to understand a city that remains a nexus of world affairs…. Although his Jewish family has strong links to the city, Montefiore scrupulously sustains balance and objectivity…. Beautifully written, absorbing.”

— Booklist (starred)

“A panoramic narrative of Jerusalem, organized chronologically and delivered with magisterial flair. Spanning eras from King David to modern Israel with rich anecdotes and vivid detail, this exceptional volume portrays the personalities and worldviews of the dynasties and families that shaped the city throughout its 3,000-year history.”

— Publishers Weekly (starred)

“An essential text, bathed in blood, lit with faint hope…. The author sees Jerusalem not just as the setting for some of history’s most savage violence but a microcosm of our world…. The story is horribly complex, and Montefiore struggles mightily to make everything clear as well as compelling.”

— Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Four thousand years of history absolutely romped through—a masterwork.”

— The Evening Standard (UK)

“Immensely readable…. Montefiore is that rarest of things: a historian who writes great, weighty tomes that read like the best thrillers…. [He] has a visceral understanding of what makes history worth reading. [Montefiore] manages to bring people who have been dead for two millennia alive again and makes them breathe, and he has insight into the minds of psychopathic tyrants that makes you wish he were working for the U.S. secretary of state.”

— Newsweek

“Already a classic. Jerusalem is an extraordinary achievement, written with imagination and energy…. Simon Sebag Montefiore tells this modern story with clarity and admirable impartiality…. Read this book.”

— Financial Times

“A fittingly vast and dazzling portrait of Jerusalem, utterly compelling from start to finish”

— The Sunday Times (London)

“Astoundingly ambitious and triumphantly epic history…. Tautly gripping…. A book with its gaze fixed on the stars [but] also with its feet firmly in the gutter…. A heavenly city Jerusalem may be; but it is also a relentlessly terrestrial one. The achievement of this marvelous book is to fuse them into one biography.”

— The Daily Telegraph

“Montefiore’s book, packed with fascinating and often grisly detail, is a gripping account of war, betrayal, looting, rape, massacre, sadistic torture, fanaticism, feuds, persecution, corruption, hypocrisy, and spirituality…. A reliable and compelling account.”

— The Guardian

“Gripping…. Montefiore has a great novelist’s eye for human detail, a great journalist’s nose for human frailty and a great historian’s touch when it comes to selecting just the right primary source document to bring the past alive…. When history is written this way one can never have too much.”

— The Times (London)

“Outstanding…. Superbly objective, elegantly written and highly entertaining.”

— The Mail on Sunday

“Simon Sebag Montefiore’s ‘biography’ of the city of Jerusalem, eye-opening and hair-raising in equal measure, has outsold almost all the celebs…. [A] spectacular chronicle of unholy deeds in holy places.”

— The Independent

“Simon Sebag Montefiore’s magnificent biography of Jerusalem has all the grandeur and sweep of her 3,000-year history. His masterful research and his gift for bringing it all to life make this fascinating work a treasure-trove for scholars and laymen alike.”

—Henry Kissinger

“A dazzling historical encyclopedia that brings alive the world of the three Abrahamic faiths…. Its splendid historical cast includes scheming kings and manipulative queens, bloodthirsty warlords and genocidal emperors, wild-eyed prophets and alluring harlots…. Anyone wishing to understand the religious forces and passions that shape much of our modern world would benefit from reading Jerusalem .”

— The Literary Review

“Jerusalem deserves a great biographer, and Montefiore has provided the best in recent memory.”

— The Jerusalem Post

“[A] wonderfully vibrant account…. Balanced, fair and above all colorful, Montefiore’s narrative does justice to every religious tradition and confirms his reputation as one of our finest popular historians.”

— The Sunday Times (London), Books of the Year 8mKE4wK2G1YbpRz20a5xLh2AShOmUnG9zU0F6gaAxM5fJ9tWlxkfx/T/yQIyYDpk