Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century

by Martin Gilbert

Book Overview

From one of the world's most revered historians, the first major history of contemporary Jerusalem

""Gilbert is a first-rate storyteller."" --The Wall Street Journal

""Fascinating and admirably readable . . . unmatched for sheer breadth of acutely observed historical detail."" --Christopher Walker, The Times (London)

""Most noteworthy for its richness of letters, journals and anecdotes . . . the major events of this century come alive in eyewitness...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471283282
• ISBN13: 9780471283287
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A clear explaination and history

I really enjoyed this book. This book has given me a clearer idea of the history behind what is happening in the news. Thank you Mr. Gilbert for taking a complex subject and history turning it into something that most anyone can begin to understand.

Excellent political, social & military history of Jerusalem.

This is another meticulous study by Sir Martin Gilbert, one of the most prominent, knowledgeable and admired experts in the Middle East. Here he provides a remarkable insight into the history of the City of Jerusalem during the 20th Century.The author commences with a description of Jerusalem at the dawn of the 20th Century, as a small provincial town in the Ottoman Empire, comprising of a population totalling some 70,000 people. The majority being Jews (45,000) and the remainder mostly Arabs (25,000). The Century approaching it's end with the City's population being more than half a million, the majority Jewish but with some 25% being Arabs.The book documents Jerusalem under Ottoman rule until their defeat by the British during the First World War. The writer then continues to illustrate the City under British rule through the Mandate period. Appropriate attention being paid to the Arab riots of 1929/36, describing many of the horrific incidents, the role of all the entities involved and the ensuing casualties. Many factors & commendable detail so often overlooked are included here.The author analyses the City during the Second World War and how the latter affected it's occupants. It is clearly shown that the coming of peace to Europe did not bring peace to Jerusalem. Indeed, from 1945-47 the writer describes Jerusalem as a City in turmoil, with the imminent end of British rule and the intended UN partition. A partition which unbelievably intended to leave the Hebrew University and the City's 99,000 Jews (one sixth of the total number of Jews in Palestine) outside of the intended borders of the Jewish state. The author describes this and the resentment that this intended move caused.The ensuing conflict of 1948 is recounted including the siege of Jerusalem and the horrors suffered by the inhabitants. This extends to the 1967 Six Day War with detail also provided of the fighting for the Old City between Israel and Jordanian forces. Indeed, the author omits nothing, extending through the Yom Kippur War on to the Palestinian `intifada' of 1987/89 and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.Numerous maps and photographs are provided in abundance. Notably inclusion is a photograph of the often ignored & forgotten bombing by British Army deserters of the civilian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street in February 1948, which killed over 50 innocent Jews. (A captured British soldier apparently boasting of his involvement, but complaining that he did not receive the £500 promised him & his colleagues by the Arab Mufti). The carnage and destruction in the Ben Yehuda photograph rarely receives the light of day with most `neutral' sources tending to highlight the attack on the King David Hotel by the Stern gang. Photographs are also included of the devastation inflicted on Jerusalem's synagogues by Jordanian bombing in the 1948 conflict.The writer concludes this excellent work by declaring that Jerusalem can be the `essence of peace' or the `source

Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century

Gilbert is magnificent in his ability to take a complicated history of events and tell them to the reader in a concise, readable text. He also refrains from editorializing the content towards one side of the struggle. I believe this book is essential for grasping the current unrest in the Old City and throughout Israel. As a recent visitor to Jerusalem, I only wish I could have read Gilbert's work prior to my trip.

Vivid, Vital, Real - a delight to read

I read Gilbert's modern history of Jerusalem a few months after I had lived in the city on a holiday. Sir Gilbert (he was knighted not long ago) has a unique genius in bringing the reader to real time through the voices of those who lived in the times. A balanced book with deep touches of humanity and pathos. One is in awe of how this small city has such a history of blood, tears and hopes. The amazing art of Gilbert's genius is that his skills are transparent to the reader and he is as much a teller of oral history in the way he brings the vast resource of his research and sources as told history. Highly recommended.

Vivid Factual Account

It is likely that more half-truths are espoused about Jewish-Arab relations than about any other issue of the late 20th century. Luckily, Sir Martin Gilbert has written this remarkable and thoroughly readable volume, which sets much of the record straight. For example, Gilbert shows that Jews have lived in Jerusalem for the past 2000 years, even though they did not rule there. More importantly, he shows that Jerusalem fell into an advanced state of decrepitude under its many rulers, including the Ottomans and the Arabs, and only the capture of it by the Jews in 1967 helped restore it to its current luster. These examples, and so many well-told others, make this an indispensible volume on the history of the Capitol of Israel.