Jerusalem is one of twenty-five volumes from the Time-Life book series The Great Cities. Published in the 1970s this series looks at the history, culture, and character of various cities throughout the world. This volume portrays the tumult of cultures, nations, and religions which comprise the narrative of the city of Jerusalem in both the past and the present. Topics covered include King David, King Solomon and the Temple, the Wailing Wall, the influence of Greece and Rome, the destruction of the temple by the Romans, landmarks involving the life of Jesus Christ, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Via Dolorosa, the various religious sects present in the city, the Dome of the Rock, the Crusades, the British Mandate period, the Six Day War, and the status of Jerusalem as of the 1970s. Author Colin Thubron seeks to explain the history of Jerusalem by walking the streets and meeting men; much of the narrative consists of conversations the author had with Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The photographs by Jay Maisel go a long way in enhancing the narrative.

A deep and moving, often eloquent, account of the author's effort to understand Jerusalem, one of the pivot points of the world, from ancient to modern. The author, Colin Thubron, is well known as an accomplished chronicler of places and times, and has a whole published book on Jerusalem, therefore this can be expected to be a deeply insightful and even authoritative work; his other volume in the Great Cities series, on another pivot point Constantinople (Istanbul), is equally evocative. His technique is to delve into the existing institutions and interact with the people involved on the ground, so one often gets what can be called a subaltern view; reinforced in this instance by the moody photographs so liberally provided. The most moving part of the account would appear to be the retracing of the path of Christ as he carries his cross to the place of his martyrdom; reflecting on this, it would appear that the first claim on this holiest of holy places should be with the Christians of the world, except that they themselves have apparently carved up the place of the crucifiction into a dozen separate fiefdoms among the warring sects. Now of course Israel hold this holy land. After having read the author's travel diaries across various countries and continents, one is awe-struck by the pluck and devotion he brings to bear on his subject, the amount of interaction he has been doing, and his intimate experiencing and deep knowledge of the human condition across the world. ( )

NO OF PAGES: 200 SUB CAT I: Jerusalem SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: Contents: The City of Earth and Heaven; The Place of David; The Yoke of Greece and Rome; The Presence of Christ; The Heart of Christendom; The Dome of the Rock; Crusaders and Muslims; The Mandates and After; The ReturnNOTES: SUBTITLE: The Great Cities