Jerusalem: The Biography

　　了解耶路撒冷的歷史，就明白世界為何演變至今日樣貌……

　　耶路撒冷曾被視為世界的中心，今日的它與過去相比更是有過之而無不及－－

　　這座城市是亞伯拉罕諸宗教爭鬥的焦點，是信徒日增的基督教、猶太教與伊斯蘭教基本教義派的聖地，是文明衝突的戰略要衝，是無神論與信仰齟齬的前線，是讓世人魂牽夢繫的去處，是惑人的陰謀與虛構的網路傳說發生的地點。

　　本書作者力圖中立，依年代順序講述耶路撒冷的故事，透過男男女女－－士兵與先知、詩人與國王、農民與音樂家－－的生活，與創造耶路撒冷的家族來呈現這座城市的歷史。目的就是說出事實，無論它們聽起來是否刺耳…

　　★本書中譯版《耶路撒冷三千年》由出版。

The epic history of three thousand years of faith, fanaticism, bloodshed, and coexistence, from King David to the 21st century, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict, from thebestselling author of The Romanovs - ＂Impossible to put down.... Vastly enjoyable.＂ --The New York Times Book Review

How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the ＂center of the world＂ and now the key to peace in the Middle East? In a gripping narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city in its many incarnations, bringing every epoch and character blazingly to life. Jerusalem’s biography is told through the wars, love affairs, and revelations of the men and women who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem. As well as the many ordinary Jerusalemites who have left their mark on the city, its cast varies from Solomon, Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent to Cleopatra, Caligula and Churchill; from Abraham to Jesus and Muhammad; from the ancient world of Jezebel, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod and Nero to the modern times of the Kaiser, Disraeli, Mark Twain, Lincoln, Rasputin, Lawrence of Arabia and Moshe Dayan.

In this masterful narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore brings the holy city to life and draws on the latest scholarship, his own family history, and a lifetime of study to show that the story of Jerusalem is truly the story of the world.

作者簡介

賽門．蒙提費歐里（Simon Sebag Montefiore）

　　生於一九六五年，曾於劍橋大學攻讀歷史。

　　他的《凱薩琳大帝與波騰金》曾進入薩謬爾．強森獎、杜夫．庫伯獎與瑪許傳記獎的最後決選名單；《史達林：紅色沙皇的宮廷》榮獲英國圖書獎的年度歷史書獎；《青年史達林》贏得柯斯達傳記獎（英國）、洛杉磯時報傳記類圖書獎（美國）、政治傳記大獎（法國）與克萊斯基政治文學獎（奧地利）；並寫過一部小說《薩申卡》。

　　他運用新檔案資料、當前的學術成果、自己家族的文件，以及花費一輩子的時間進行研究，完成了《耶路撒冷三千年》這部驚人的歷史鉅著。

　　據《新聞週刊》所述，他能將龐大的歷史書籍寫成極為好看的驚悚作品；他知道該怎麼做才能讓歷史變得淺顯易懂；他的博學與睿智使人忍不住向美國國務卿推薦聘請他擔任幕僚。

　　其作品已被翻譯成三十五種語言。身為皇家文學學會會員的他，現與妻子及兩名子女住在倫敦。

SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE is a historian of Russia and the Middle East. Catherine the Great and Potemkin was short-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar won the History Book of the Year Prize at the British Book Awards. Young Stalin won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography, the Costa Biography Award, and le Grande Prix de la biographie politique. 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. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Montefiore graduated from Cambridge University, where he received his PhD. He lives in London.

www.simonsebagmontefiore.com