Jerusalem: Three Thousand Years

The history of Jerusalem is the history of the entire world. It is a temple of God, the capital of two peoples, and a holy city for three great religions. It exists both in heaven and on earth. A strategic crossroads where civilizations collide, it is a place that haunts the human imagination, the setting for bewildering conspiracies, fabricated legends, and round-the-clock news.

Simon Sebag Montefiore, a “master storyteller,” recounts Jerusalem’s past and present in chronological order, tracing the three great religions’ struggles over the “Holy City” alongside the rise and fall of several prominent families. Drawing on extensive field research and documentary scholarship, he offers an objective, balanced account of the city’s magnificent three-thousand-year history. Through the lives of soldiers and prophets, poets and kings, farmers and musicians, and the families who shaped Jerusalem, he brings the real city to life...

Jerusalem: The Biography has been a domestic bestseller for years. Upon publication, it won the National Library of China’s Wenjin Book Award, and earned honors including “Book of the Year” and “Influential Book of the Year” from outlets and professional organizations such as ifeng.com, Shenzhen Commercial Daily, Southern Metropolis Daily, and China Publishing & Media Journal. It has also ranked near the top of Dangdang’s monthly and annual lists. This newly revised edition adds 30,000 words of new material, including Chapter 54, “The 21st Century,” as well as 30 color illustrations and a letter from the author to Chinese readers.

Along with the new material, the hefty book has been made more compact: the original large-format hardcover has been replaced with a smaller paperback edition, printed on lightweight paper. At the author’s suggestion, the contents have been divided into four volumes, making for a more comfortable and portable reading experience.