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Jerusalem

The Biography – A History of the Middle East

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Jerusalem

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
Narrated by: John Lee
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About this listen

A new, updated, revised edition of JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY, the wider history of the Middle East through the lens of the Holy City, from King David to today.

The story of Jerusalem is the story of the world.

Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today's clash of civilisations. How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the 'centre of the world' and now the key to peace in the Middle East? Drawing on new archives and a lifetime's study, Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city through the wars, love affairs and revelations of the kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem.

A classic of modern literature, this is not only the epic story of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and co-existence, but also a freshly-updated history of the entire Middle East, from King David to the twenty-first century, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the wars of today. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem - the only city that exists twice - in heaven and on earth.

©2011 Simon Sebag Montefiore (P)2011 Random House Audio Israel & Palestine Middle East Africa Middle Ages Judaism War Iran Imperialism Refugee Ottoman Empire Royalty Holocaust Ancient History Crusade
All stars
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the narrator was excellent and represented the books content well.

the subject matter was well presented.

excellent, informative listen

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Jerusalem, a city that has influenced countless generations of people. A crazy place that continues to entrance and horrify, at the same time. I enjoyed this Audiobook thoroughly. Although, for those religious listeners out there - this book offers the typical secular understanding of the bible and is critical of the history contained therein.

As for the story itself, it was good, quite a detailed and in depth account of Jerusalem's history. I like that it gave context to all the outside forces that effected and influenced the city as well. It discussed the goings on in the wider world that had a direct impact on Jerusalem also. One of the annoying things I didn't like however was that it went too into the lives of people involved in the city - it detracted a little from the story on that front I thought. It tended to be a bit wordy and over the top, which was good and bad. But this deserves a solid 4 stars for an intriguing listen.

As for the Narrator - he was very good. He had very good pronunciation and did a good job of all the names. He didn't detract from the story. But I must say his reading had somewhat of a pompous air to it. Still solid though, 4 stars.

Overall, I give this 4 stars.

Biography of a City

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Sebag Montefiore is a terrific writer of history, and it's not his fault if some of the history related here is so convoluted it's hard to absorb. However the book is not so much read as intoned by John Lee - an irritatingly affected performance in which he sounds like he is reading the Bible itself. Admittedly I'm sensitive to reading style so others may not have a problem with it. It is a damn long book though so download the sample first to see if you mightn't rather just read it yourself.

Fascinating book, annoying delivery

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An amazingly detailed chronological history of Jerusalem, its politics, religions and peoples. A truly complete history.

A complete and fantastic history

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Riveting. Complex and filled with fascinating details. A history of the Middle East conflict through the lens of a single city.

Well researched.

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The author has put together an all encompassing snapshot of Jerusalem which is easily read and assumes the audience has some grasp of history. However, the narrative is flawed in its subjective nature, being very Jew-centric in describing modern history, yet dismissive of biblical texts as myth and tradition rather than a historical document. Overall well put together but like any history, needs to be read with a “pinch of salt”.

Good overview but subjective narrative

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Horrible book. It was clear that the purpose of the book was to disprove Christianity.
The arguments were weak, made up, and the whole thing was more of an against Christianity book than history book.
For any Christian searching for something nice to listen (like me), this is not it. It even manipulates some of the history to fit the anti-christian agenda.

Ridiculous agenda

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I'm disappointed the author didn't seem to acknowledge the Palestinian refugees and the camps in the neighbouring countries that were a direct result of the Israeli occupation of Palestine!

Disappointing

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I need to go back to the ‘tried and true’ method called ‘reading’. The narrator’s speed of speech, but more importantly his unusual inflection and accent is disconcerting and distracting from the brilliance of the history. His narrating was so false I stopped listening at chapter 2.

Narrator was distracting

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.