Who is Simon Sebag Montefiore?
Simon Sebag Montefiore is a British historian and novelist. Montefiore’s initial career as a foreign affairs journalist meant that he was reporting from the Soviet Union just as Communism began to collapse.
What makes Sebag’s ‘biography of Jerusalem’ worth reading?
His new ‘biography’ of Jerusalem is no less readable. Sebag has a visceral understanding of what makes history worth reading. He manages to bring people who have been dead for two millennia alive again and make them breathe.
How accurate is Montefiore’s history of Rome?
The parts Montefiore uses in this book are accepted as probably accurate by most Western scholars. After the Biblical period, every page is chock full of fascinating history unfamiliar to nearly all Americans. He appears to understand all the historical factions who have controlled the city over the centuries.
What makes Montefiore’s sources so special?
His personal family history gave Montefiore unique access to members of centuries-long leading Arab families of the city as sources for many stories available nowhere else in English. That family background also gave him access to surviving early leaders of Israel, and royal families of England and Jordan with ancestors who are part of the story.
‘Simon Sebag Montefiore’s magnificent biography of Jerusalem has all the grandeur and sweep of her 3000-year history. His masterful research and his gift for bringing it all to life make this fascinating work a treasure-trove for scholars and laymen alike.’
Is this Jerusalem’s first biography?
‘There have been many histories of Jerusalem . . . but Mr. Montefiore’s book is the city’s first “biography”— a panoptic narrative of its rulers and citizens, heroes and villains, harlots and saints. In 550 pages, Mr. Montefiore barely misses a trick or a character in taking us through the city’s story with compelling, breathless tension.’
Who is John Montefiore and what books did he write?
Jerusalem: The Biography was a worldwide best seller. Montefiore’s books are published in more than forty languages. He is the author of the novels Sashenka and One Night in Winter, which won the Paddy Power Political Fiction Book of the Year Award in 2014.