This book of recollections and reflections encompasses personalities, places, culture, religion, politics, demographics and history. The author lived in Jerusalem from 1938 to the mid 1950s; he compares his recollections of those years with the Jerusalem of today. He covers a wide array of subjects, including archaeology, the Dead Sea scrolls, the history of the Kibbutz and the divisions in Israeli society, from the Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox) to the Post-Zionists, a small group of academics. A typical chapter would start out with famous or obscure personalities from the past and then evolve into a gripping discussion of important issues. Chapter 4 does a good job of explaining terms like Sephardim, Mizrachim and the Jews that came from North Africa and Asia, whilst the next chapters are devoted to German Jews and their contribution, as well as the famous scholar of Jewish Mysticism Scholem Gershom, and the Hebrew University. The Holocaust and Yad Vashem museum are discussed in chapter 7, Musa Alami and the Arab-Jewish conflict in the next, whilst early Jewish attempts at creating a binational state form the subject matter of chapter 9. The author is at his most engaging when describing certain sections of Jerusalem - then and now - in the chapters on Talbiyeh, Mea Shearim and Musrara. Other chapters deal with the influx of Russian immigrants that started in 1989, the city's famous holy places and the psychological condition known as Jerusalem Syndrome. The quotes about the city from reference sources published during the 1800s are quite funny and revealing. In the epilogue, Laqueur laments what he considers the deterioration of Jerusalem, where problems include poverty, municipal debt and demographic challenges. The inner city is not doing well although the satellite towns around the city are prospering. This chapter includes interesting facts on the city's media like the Jerusalem Post, and a long discussion of the old and the contemporary Jaffa Road. There are 14 black and white illustrations and photographs, the dust jacket contains a portrait and short biography of the author, and the book concludes with an index. One aspect of the author's style is slightly annoying: his extreme detachment and aloofness, and his pessimism about the future of the city. I sincerely hope he is wrong on this. Overall, this is a valuable and informative work about the people, places and recent history of this remarkable city, and a brilliant chronicle about how Jerusalem has changed since the 1950s. (Sourcebooks)

This book of recollections and reflections encompasses personalities, places, culture, religion, politics, demographics and history. The author lived in Jerusalem from 1938 to the mid 1950s; he compares his recollections of those years with the Jerusalem of today. He covers a wide array of subjects, including archaeology, the Dead Sea scrolls, the history of the Kibbutz and the divisions in Israeli society, from the Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox) to the Post-Zionists, a small group of academics. A typical chapter would start out with famous or obscure personalities from the past and then evolve into a gripping discussion of important issues.

Chapter 4 does a good job of explaining terms like Sephardim, Mizrachim and the Jews that came from North Africa and Asia, whilst the next chapters are devoted to German Jews and their contribution, as well as the famous scholar of Jewish Mysticism Scholem Gershom, and the Hebrew University. The Holocaust and Yad Vashem museum are discussed in chapter 7, Musa Alami and the Arab-Jewish conflict in the next, whilst early Jewish attempts at creating a binational state form the subject matter of chapter 9.

The author is at his most engaging when describing certain sections of Jerusalem - then and now - in the chapters on Talbiyeh, Mea Shearim and Musrara. Other chapters deal with the influx of Russian immigrants that started in 1989, the city's famous holy places and the psychological condition known as Jerusalem Syndrome. The quotes about the city from reference sources published during the 1800s are quite funny and revealing.

In the epilogue, Laqueur laments what he considers the deterioration of Jerusalem, where problems include poverty, municipal debt and demographic challenges. The inner city is not doing well although the satellite towns around the city are prospering. This chapter includes interesting facts on the city's media like the Jerusalem Post, and a long discussion of the old and the contemporary Jaffa Road.

There are 14 black and white illustrations and photographs, the dust jacket contains a portrait and short biography of the author, and the book concludes with an index. One aspect of the author's style is slightly annoying: his extreme detachment and aloofness, and his pessimism about the future of the city. I sincerely hope he is wrong on this. Overall, this is a valuable and informative work about the people, places and recent history of this remarkable city, and a brilliant chronicle about how Jerusalem has changed since the 1950s.