'Original and illuminating ... what a good book this is' Jonathan Dimbleby 'A love letter to the people of the Old City' Jerusalem Post In Jerusalem, what you see and what is true are two different things. Maps divide the walled Old City into four quarters, yet that division doesn't reflect the reality of mixed and diverse neighbourhoods. Beyond the crush and frenzy of its major religious sites, much of the Old City remains little known to visitors, its people overlooked and their stories untold. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem lets the communities of the Old City speak for themselves. Ranging through ancient past and political present, it evokes the city's depth and cultural diversity. Matthew Teller's highly original 'biography' features the Old City's Palestinian and Jewish communities, but also spotlights its Indian and African populations, its Greek and Armenian and Syriac cultures, its downtrodden Dom Gypsy families and its Sufi mystics. It discusses the sources of Jerusalem's holiness and the ideas - often startlingly secular - that have shaped lives within its walls. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem is an evocation of place through story, led by the voices of Jerusalemites.

This unique, absorbing biography of Jerusalem brings to light its overlooked histories and diverse contemporary voices. In Jerusalem, what you see and what is true are two different things. The Old City has never had “four quarters” as its maps proclaim. And beyond the crush and frenzy of its major religious sites, many of its quarters are little known to visitors, its people ignored and their stories untold. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem lets the communities of the Old City speak for themselves. Ranging from ancient past to political present, it evokes the city’s depth and cultural diversity. Matthew Teller’s highly original “biography” features the Old City’s Palestinian and Jewish communities, but also spotlights its Indian and African populations, its Greek and Armenian and Syriac cultures, its downtrodden Dom Gypsy families, and its Sufi mystics. It discusses the sources of Jerusalem’s holiness and the ideas—often startlingly secular—that have shaped lives within its walls. It is an evocation of place through story, led by the voices of Jerusalemites.

Travel writing, journalism and essays from more than ten years of exploring the Middle East. Compassionate, engaged and observant, Matthew Teller listens to people. In 27 stories from thirteen countries, he takes us from the heart of the region's biggest cities-Cairo, Riyadh, Dubai-to the furthest reaches of deserts and mountains in a quest for personal connections and human understanding. Author and documentary-maker Teller carries us along with beautiful writing about unique people and places. Track the fabled Arabian oryx from the edge of extinction to a celebrated return to its natural habitats. Explore the legendary souks of pre-war Damascus and Aleppo on a Syrian food tour like no other. Climb the peaks of Iraqi Kurdistan to discover an ancient citadel reinventing itself for the 21st century. In Kuwait he meets a community pushed to the edge of society. In Jordan he spends time with a master winemaker. Teller introduces marginalised communities of Egypt on a River Nile journey that breaks new ground, and hears from Qataris, Palestinians and Omanis who are pushing new cultural boundaries to bring change to their countries.

It is May 23, 1948, and Jewish and Muslim forces have been in brutal conflict since the new State of Israel was proclaimed nine days ago. The Zion Gate is closed and the Haganah patriots, struggling to hold on to the Old City, are running out of supplies. Inside the city, the defenders' valiant spirit threatens to fail. The leading Haganah strategist, Moshe Sachar, is trapped in enemy territory and desperately races to reach his pregnant wife, Rachel, and the others who continue to fight for the Old City. Rachel's grandfather sees a prophecy of hope for Jerusalem, but can Moshe reach them before it's too late? Jerusalem's Heart is a riveting novel of the battle to liberate the world's holiest city. Once again, Bodie and Brock Thoene combine an unsurpassed and timely blend of history, superb storytelling, and incredible drama that thrills from cover to cover.

“Comprehensive and compelling...a landmark study” of the Arab-Zionist conflict, told from both sides, by the author of Israel’s Secret Wars (Sunday Times, UK). Setting the scene at the end of the nineteenth century, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in the Ottoman-ruled Holy Land, Black draws on a wide range of sources—from declassified documents to oral testimonies to his own vivid-on-the-ground reporting—to illuminate the most polarizing conflict of modern times. Beginning with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which the British government promised to favor the establishment of “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, Black proceeds through the Arab Rebellion of the late 1930s, the Nazi Holocaust, Israel’s independence and the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), the watershed of 1967 followed by the Palestinian re-awakening, Israel’s settlement project, two Intifadas, the Oslo Accords, and continued negotiations and violence up to today. Combining engaging narrative with political analysis and social and cultural insights, Enemies and Neighbors is both an accessible overview and a fascinating investigation into the deeper truths of a furiously contested history.

This unique, absorbing biography of Jerusalem brings to light its overlooked histories and diverse contemporary voices. In Jerusalem, what you see and what is true are two different things. The Old City has never had “four quarters” as its maps proclaim. And beyond the crush and frenzy of its major religious sites, many of its quarters are little known to visitors, its people ignored and their stories untold. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem lets the communities of the Old City speak for themselves. Ranging from ancient past to political present, it evokes the city’s depth and cultural diversity. Matthew Teller’s highly original “biography” features the Old City’s Palestinian and Jewish communities, but also spotlights its Indian and African populations, its Greek and Armenian and Syriac cultures, its downtrodden Dom Gypsy families, and its Sufi mystics. It discusses the sources of Jerusalem’s holiness and the ideas—often startlingly secular—that have shaped lives within its walls. It is an evocation of place through story, led by the voices of Jerusalemites.

An expansive history of Jerusalem as a cultural crossroads, and a fresh look at the urban development of one of the world's most mythologized cities. Jerusalem is often seen as an eternal battlefield in the "clash of civilizations" and in endless, inevitable wars of religion. But if we abandon this limiting image when reviewing the entirety of its concrete urban history—from its beginnings to today—we discover a global city at the world's crossroads. Jerusalem is the common cradle of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, whose long and intertwined pasts include as much exchange and reciprocal influence as conflict and confrontation. This synthetic account is the first to make available to the general public Jerusalem's whole history, informed by the latest archaeological finds, unexplored archives, and ongoing research and offering a completely renewed understanding of the city's past and geography. This book is an indispensable guide to understanding why the world converges on Jerusalem.