Capture Jerusalem: The Biography Authored By Simon Sebag Montefiore Shown As Script
on Jerusalem: The Biography
is a compelling read, a sweeping historical survey of the most famous city in the world, Alas, Simon Sebag Montefiore writes with such woeful Biblical illiteracy and misunderstanding of the Christian faith and church history that it rather makes one doubt the reliability of the whole.
For example, early in Jerusalem, readers are simply told that Genesisandare two conflicting creation accounts as if this would be a devastating revelation to anyone who believes in the truth of the Bible.
Virtually no Biblical account is viewed as reliable unless there is a tangential reference found in either archaeology or the records of a conquering army, Biblical accounts are repeatedly viewed as suspect, but those of the oppressors are somehow reliable, Events in Jesus' life are cherry picked, with those fitting a liberal consensus viewed as historical, and everything else a later addition, "Fair enough," I thought, "He just doesn't really know the Bible, A bit of an oversight in a history of Jerusalem, but not unexpected in a historian and following the status quo of today's secular scholarship, " But the errors just kept coming! When discussing the Reformation, we're treated to the revelation that Martin Luther, "insisted that God only existed in the Bible", We're also told that during the early Reformation there are many Protestant sects including: "the Reform Church, Presbyterians, Calvinists", which is such a bizarre, anachronistic, reading of Protestantism that it leaves one's head spinning like a dervish.
I really enjoyed the reading the book, I loved the sweeping panorama of the history of the city and the people who lived there, but it was let down by stunning levels of Biblical ignorance, This is not a work that deserves to sit by Montefiore's spectacular biographies of Joseph Stalin, Es el segundo libro que leo del escritor, misma redacción que en Los Románov, Me gusta la facilidad para leerlo y el uso de imágenes ilustrativas y mapas, A very interesting book that I made the mistake of buying in Kindle, The Kindle version wouldn't load the images, maps or family trees easily or at all, at times, so I still haven't been able to access these on the Kindle.
It was only when I found a print version I realised that the extensive and very helpful foot notes were printed below the relevant pages rather than waiting for Kindle to load the notes and then recover from the following all too frequent crash.
I was using Kindle in Windows, other devices/app may be better, Unusually for a history book, it's a bit short on dates at times some of the chapters cover quite long time periods and I got a bit lost at times.
Otherwise, a fascinating book, well written and worth buying for the beautifully written evocative preface and epilogue alone, I'm off to buy a proper book and read it again I think that will getstars! Realising I had a great ignorance of the History of Jerusalem I saw this in a popular bookshop in paperback but found it on here in hardback for a few 's.
The production quality of the book itself is of a very high standard, from gold de embossed on the cover to the quality of the paper, For me very important. The book itself reads well and is extremely informative and obviously well researched, I see there are a few negative comments by some self appointed experts who take the author to task on some of the historical evidence but who knows how valid these comments are They do not take away from the scope of the book.
Very pleased I bought it and making me see what Jerusalem means to so many, I came
to this book after reading and enjoying Simon Sebag Montefiore's recent wonderful history of The Romanovs, If anything,I thought that Jerusalem was even better, This epic masterpiece tells the story of this remarkable city that is sacred to three faiths, from its foundation by King David right up to the present day, The wealth of detail in it's pages is amazing and the narrative is compelling and vivid, The author has a great talent for bringing history to life and making it interesting and the book is full of fascinating detail and commentary on the private lives of historical figures, which brings additional colour to its pages.
The author's analysis of war and politics throughout the great sweep of the Jerusalem story is excellent and insightful, Reading the book helped to put modern day Middle Eastern politics into perspective and I marvelled at the erudition of Montefiore and his great story telling ability a man who is not only a fantastic non fiction writer,but who is also a superb novelist and a captivating TV presenter.
.shipping Very interesting and informative, tracing the story of Jerusalem from David's conquest of it beforeBC right up to the present time, There are a few bits of misinformation: e, g. , when the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines it was not recaptured in battle but sent back, Also, the first half of the word 'holocaust' derives not from the Hebrew word for raising up but from the Greek word for 'whole', Montefiore seems to accept the biblical account of Jerusalem in the time of David and Solomon at face value, which many scholars today do not, I was also rather irritated by the way he describes events in the biblical period in the words of the King James Version, while events at other times are described in modern language.
It gives the anachronistic impression that the ancient Hebrews talked in Tudor English!The story as a whole is well told, but I found it immensely depressing, The whole history of Jerusalem seems to be one of power struggles, war and massacres, mostly committed by Christians, Muslims and Jews against each other and within their own faith communities.
I cannot understand why Montefiore and many others love the city so much, but then, I have never been there and, though I am a Christian, have no particular desire to go there.
I think the world would be a better place if we dropped the whole concept of a 'Holy City' or a 'Holy Land',
For example, early in Jerusalem, readers are simply told that Genesisandare two conflicting creation accounts as if this would be a devastating revelation to anyone who believes in the truth of the Bible.
Virtually no Biblical account is viewed as reliable unless there is a tangential reference found in either archaeology or the records of a conquering army, Biblical accounts are repeatedly viewed as suspect, but those of the oppressors are somehow reliable, Events in Jesus' life are cherry picked, with those fitting a liberal consensus viewed as historical, and everything else a later addition, "Fair enough," I thought, "He just doesn't really know the Bible, A bit of an oversight in a history of Jerusalem, but not unexpected in a historian and following the status quo of today's secular scholarship, " But the errors just kept coming! When discussing the Reformation, we're treated to the revelation that Martin Luther, "insisted that God only existed in the Bible", We're also told that during the early Reformation there are many Protestant sects including: "the Reform Church, Presbyterians, Calvinists", which is such a bizarre, anachronistic, reading of Protestantism that it leaves one's head spinning like a dervish.
I really enjoyed the reading the book, I loved the sweeping panorama of the history of the city and the people who lived there, but it was let down by stunning levels of Biblical ignorance, This is not a work that deserves to sit by Montefiore's spectacular biographies of Joseph Stalin, Es el segundo libro que leo del escritor, misma redacción que en Los Románov, Me gusta la facilidad para leerlo y el uso de imágenes ilustrativas y mapas, A very interesting book that I made the mistake of buying in Kindle, The Kindle version wouldn't load the images, maps or family trees easily or at all, at times, so I still haven't been able to access these on the Kindle.
It was only when I found a print version I realised that the extensive and very helpful foot notes were printed below the relevant pages rather than waiting for Kindle to load the notes and then recover from the following all too frequent crash.
I was using Kindle in Windows, other devices/app may be better, Unusually for a history book, it's a bit short on dates at times some of the chapters cover quite long time periods and I got a bit lost at times.
Otherwise, a fascinating book, well written and worth buying for the beautifully written evocative preface and epilogue alone, I'm off to buy a proper book and read it again I think that will getstars! Realising I had a great ignorance of the History of Jerusalem I saw this in a popular bookshop in paperback but found it on here in hardback for a few 's.
The production quality of the book itself is of a very high standard, from gold de embossed on the cover to the quality of the paper, For me very important. The book itself reads well and is extremely informative and obviously well researched, I see there are a few negative comments by some self appointed experts who take the author to task on some of the historical evidence but who knows how valid these comments are They do not take away from the scope of the book.
Very pleased I bought it and making me see what Jerusalem means to so many, I came
to this book after reading and enjoying Simon Sebag Montefiore's recent wonderful history of The Romanovs, If anything,I thought that Jerusalem was even better, This epic masterpiece tells the story of this remarkable city that is sacred to three faiths, from its foundation by King David right up to the present day, The wealth of detail in it's pages is amazing and the narrative is compelling and vivid, The author has a great talent for bringing history to life and making it interesting and the book is full of fascinating detail and commentary on the private lives of historical figures, which brings additional colour to its pages.
The author's analysis of war and politics throughout the great sweep of the Jerusalem story is excellent and insightful, Reading the book helped to put modern day Middle Eastern politics into perspective and I marvelled at the erudition of Montefiore and his great story telling ability a man who is not only a fantastic non fiction writer,but who is also a superb novelist and a captivating TV presenter.
.shipping Very interesting and informative, tracing the story of Jerusalem from David's conquest of it beforeBC right up to the present time, There are a few bits of misinformation: e, g. , when the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines it was not recaptured in battle but sent back, Also, the first half of the word 'holocaust' derives not from the Hebrew word for raising up but from the Greek word for 'whole', Montefiore seems to accept the biblical account of Jerusalem in the time of David and Solomon at face value, which many scholars today do not, I was also rather irritated by the way he describes events in the biblical period in the words of the King James Version, while events at other times are described in modern language.
It gives the anachronistic impression that the ancient Hebrews talked in Tudor English!The story as a whole is well told, but I found it immensely depressing, The whole history of Jerusalem seems to be one of power struggles, war and massacres, mostly committed by Christians, Muslims and Jews against each other and within their own faith communities.
I cannot understand why Montefiore and many others love the city so much, but then, I have never been there and, though I am a Christian, have no particular desire to go there.
I think the world would be a better place if we dropped the whole concept of a 'Holy City' or a 'Holy Land',
Simon Sebag Montefiore is the internationally bestselling author of prize winning history and novels, .
Simon Sebag Montefiore