Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities on Earth, the center of the universe, the capital of two nations and the shrine of three Abrahamic religions, each of which considers the city a platform on which the mystery of the Day of Judgment will be played out. The history of Jerusalem is world history in miniature, a thousand-year epic, among the authors of which are King David and the prophet Isaiah, Judas Maccabee and Jesus Christ, Emperor Justinian and Sultan Suleiman, sinners and saints, builders and destroyers... The author of the book is Simon Sebag Montefiore, a descendant of the famous Jewish philanthropist (there is probably a Montefiore Street in every city in Israel), turns this majestic epic into a gripping tale, weaving the thread of his own family legend into the fabric of popular historical research.