List of Illustrations xiii
Lists of Family Trees and Maps xix
Preface xxi
Notes on Names, Transliterations and Titles xxxi
Prologue 3
pt. ONE JUDAISM
1. The World of David 17
2. The Rise of David 23
3. The Kingdom and the Temple 26
4. The Kings of Judah 35
5. The Whore of Babylon 45
6. The Persians 52
7. The Macedonians 58
8. The Maccabees 70
9. The Romans Arrive 76
10. The Herods 83
11. Jesus Christ 100
12. The Last of the Herods 116
13. Jewish Wars: The Death of Jerusalem 128
pt. TWO PAGANISM
14. Aelia Capitolina 135
pt. THREE CHRISTIANITY
15. The Apogee of Byzantium 151
16. Sunset of the Byzantines: Persian Invasion 166
pt. FOUR ISLAM
17. The Arab Conquest 177
18. The Umayyads: The Temple Restored 187
19. The Abbasids: Distant Masters 197
20. The Fatimids: Tolerance and Lunacy 202
pt. FIVE CRUSADE
21. The Slaughter 217
22. The Rise of Outremer 226
23. The Golden Age of Outremer 231
24. Stalemate 243
25. The Leper-King 252
26. Saladin 258
27. The Third Crusade: Saladin and Richard 268
28. The Saladin Dynasty 274
pt. SIX MAMLUK
29. Slave to Sultan 287
30. Decline of the Mamluks 295
pt. SEVEN OTTOMAN
31. The Magnificence of Suleiman 303
32. Mystics and Messiahs 306
33. The Families 320
pt. EIGHT EMPIRE
34. Napoleon in the Holy Land 329
35. The New Romantics: Chateaubriand and Disraeli 334
36. The Albanian Conquest 342
37. The Evangelists 347
38. The New City 366
39. The New Religion 370
40. Arab City, Imperial City 376
41. Russians 384
pt. NINE ZIONISM
42. The Kaiser 391
43. The Oud-Player of Jerusalem 400
44. World War 412
45. Arab Revolt, Balfour Declaration 420
46. The Christmas Present 435
47. The Victors and the Spoils 447
48. The British Mandate 455
49. The Arab Revolt 468
50. The Dirty War 481
51. Jewish Independence, Arab Catastrophe 496
52. Divided 504
53. Six Days 511
Epilogue 521
Family Trees 545
Maps 553
Acknowledgements 565
Notes 569
Bibliography 609
Index 629

Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore was born on June 27, 1965 in London. He is a British historian, award winning author of history books and novels and television presenter. He was educated at Ludgrove School and Harrow School. He read history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge where he received his Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD). He won an Exhibition to Caius College. He went on to work as a banker, a foreign affairs journalist, and a war correspondent.

Montefiore's first book Catherine the Great & Potemkin. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar won History Book of the Year at the 2004 British Book Awards. Young Stalin won the LA Times Book Prize for Best Biography, the Costa Book Award, the Bruno Kreisky Award for Political Literature, and Le Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique. Jerusalem: The Biography was a global bestseller and won The Book of the Year Prize from the Jewish Book Council. His latest history is The Romanovs: 1613-1918. He is also the author of the acclaimed novels Sashenka and One Night in Winter. One Night in Winter won the Political Novel of the Year Prize.