Synopses & Reviews
"
Jerusalem Besieged is a fascinating account of how and why a baffling array of peoples, ideologies, and religions have fought for some four thousand years over a city without either great wealth, size, or strategic importance. Cline guides us through the baffling, but always bloody, array of Jewish, Roman, Moslem, Crusader, Ottoman, Western, Arab, and Israeli fights for possession of such a symbolic prize in a manner that is both scholarly and engaging."
-Victor Davis Hanson, Stanford University; author of The Other Greeks and Carnage and Culture
"A beautifully lucid presentation of four thousand years of history in a single volume. Cline writes primarily as an archaeologist-avoiding polemic and offering evidence for any religious claims-yet he has also incorporated much journalistic material into this study. Jerusalem Besieged will enlighten anyone interested in the history of military conflict in and around Jerusalem."
-Col. Rose Mary Sheldon, Virginia Military Institute
"This groundbreaking study offers a fascinating synthesis of Jerusalem's military history from its first occupation into the modern era. Cline amply deploys primary source material to investigate assaults on Jerusalem of every sort, starting at the dawn of recorded history. Jerusalem Besieged is invaluable for framing the contemporary situation in the Middle East in the context of a very long and pertinent history."
-Baruch Halpern, Pennsylvania State University
A sweeping history of four thousand years of struggle for control of one city
"[An] absorbing account of archaeological history, from the ancient Israelites' first conquest to today's second intifada. Cline clearly lays out the fascinating history behind the conflicts."
-USA Today
"A pleasure to read, this work makes this important but complicated subject fascinating."
-Jewish Book World
"Jerusalem Besieged is a fascinating account of how and why a baffling array of peoples, ideologies, and religions have fought for some four thousand years over a city without either great wealth, size, or strategic importance. Cline guides us through the baffling, but always bloody, array of Jewish, Roman, Moslem, Crusader, Ottoman, Western, Arab, and Israeli fights for possession of such a symbolic prize in a manner that is both scholarly and engaging."
-Victor Davis Hanson, Stanford University; author of The Other Greeks and Carnage and Culture
Synopsis
Tackling a highly topical subject, Eric Cline places the events of the Middle East today in the context of the past. In discussing four thousand years of cyclical violence and bloodshed in and around the city of Jerusalem, he demonstrates how little has really changed. Jews, Christians and Muslims have all desired to control the holy city for centuries, especially Temple Mount, which is of paramount historical, cultural and religious significance. In this book, Cline explores how the methods of war have altered, but the motives have largely remained the same, and goes on to examine how the major political figures of the Middle East today use the events of the past for the purposes of political propaganda. From David's battle against the Jebusites c.1000 BC, the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar's army in 586 BC, the two Jewish revolts against the Romans, the Crusades, the actions of Saladin in the 12th century, to more recent events of the 20th and 21st century.