City of Abraham: History, Myth and Memory: A Journey through Hebron

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Description

The City of Abraham is a journey through one of the world's most divided cities - Hebron, the only place in the West Bank where Palestinians and Israelis live side by side. It begins with a hill called Tel Rumeida, the site of ancient Hebron, where the patriarch Abraham - father of the Jews and the Arabs - was supposed to have lived when he arrived in the Promised Land. Platt tells the history of the hill and the city in which it stands, shares the stories of residents and settlers, and illuminates the mythic roots of the struggle to control the land. Through a mixture of travel writing, reportage and interviews, The City of Abraham explores the ways in which Hebron's past continues to inform its tumultuous present.

Reviews

This first-rate account blends a study of the history wars . . . with sensitive reports on the experience of local people, settlers and soldiers * Independent *
This thought-provoking book takes the reader from Biblical times to the divisions of the present day . . . With the impartial eyes of an outsider, and using a mixture of reportage, travel writing and interviews, Platt explores the history of the hill and the city . . . illuminating the lives at the heart of this intractable conflict. * Choice Magazine *

Author Bio

Edward Platt was born in 1968 and lives in London. His last book, Leadville, won a Somerset Maugham Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.