This book is a multidisciplinary study of Jerusalem which aims to discuss the complex issue of Jerusalem, defined as an idea and as a real place, throughout the millenarian history of the city and its religious and political divisions. It consists of seventeen short articles and is arranged thematically and chronologically: six articles deal with Jerusalem and its religious significance, four with the city and the ways in which it was, and still is, represented in various artistic forms, and finally, seven deal with the history and politics of Jerusalem from the late Ottoman era until the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Francis E. Peters discusses how Jerusalem is inevitably linked with religion. He claims that it is believers who transform their own beliefs into action and therefore it is those men and their religion who laid claim to the city thus serving to make it a glittering prize worth the fight. Jerusalem has therefore become a contested, but also a shared, city by Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Looking at how each religious group has laid claim to the city, historians have attempted to discuss how Jerusalem has become a pivotal place in both ideological and material terms. Lee L. Levine states that Jerusalem's prominent position in Jewish history is the result of a long, complex process with both internal and external causes. It is claimed that it was under David's rule that Jerusalem first entered the Jewish scene. It was with the construction of the Temple that the city began to expand and grow in importance. Despite this, the city changed hands several times and the Temple continued at the centre of the Jewish life and therefore Jerusalem. With the destruction of the city and the Temple in 70 ce Jerusalem became an ideal place to be remembered in all ritualistic moments of Jewish life: prayer, weddings and funerals. In a similar vein Oliver L. Yarbrough discusses Jerusalem in the early Christian era when the city's holy sites were visited by pilgrims even before the emperor Constantine and his mother Helena took an interest. Christianity at that time was divided, along the lines of theology and interpretation of scriptures, about the significance of Jerusalem. Yarbrough discusses some of the main issues from the time of Jesus until the seventh century, underlining how Christian associations with the city were of biblical origin, but also secular. Suleiman Ali Mourad, discussing Jerusalem in early Islam, focuses on the work of the tenth-century scholar al-Ramli al-Zayyat and the particular genre of religious literature known as Fada'il that deals with the veneration of particular towns or regions. According to the study of this source Mourad argues that traditions about the sacredness of Jerusalem were already in circulation in the eighth century and closely linked to the city's biblical heritage. Yet the association with the Prophet developed only later, after the Crusaders took the city from Muslim rulers. It is the lack of the material control of Jerusalem that led to the development of veneration for the city based mainly on Islamic sources.

In Part II Jerusalem is seen as a space represented in various artistic forms. Rehav Rubin discusses early printed maps, printed mainly by Christians for themselves and which therefore focused unsurprisingly on the representation of Christian holy sites. Rubin shows how maps were essential for pilgrims in their travel to the holy land, and also how the maps helped to create an image of Jerusalem for those unable to travel. Christian J. Gruber makes an interesting connection between Jerusalem and visual propaganda of post-revolutionary Iran: he shows how the image of the Dome of the Rock is to be found in many murals around Tehran and how these murals are linked to the idea of martyrdom and freedom from oppression. Interestingly, Gruber shows how the Dome of the Rock was used to promote a collective Islamic identity that could break through sectarian lines.

The third and final part deals with the modern history and politics of Jerusalem. Issam Nassar discusses late Ottoman rule of Jerusalem, and is critical of how traditional historiography neglects the narratives of local residents in favour of an excessive focus on Eurocentric views. Nassar is also critical of some general approaches adopted by historians, such as the focus on religion and the issue of modernization. He suggests that in order to study Jerusalem in the late Ottoman period it is necessary to look at new and different sources which show the multiplicity of connections between religious and denominational communities. Kimberly Katz discusses Jerusalem in the period of Jordanian rule from 1948 to 1967. She examines Jordanian efforts to change the status of the city, exploring custodianship of the holy places and public discussions of Jerusalem as a capital city. Katz shows how Abdullah's efforts to exert his authority over Jerusalem led to the appointment of Ragheb Nashashibi, a member of the Jerusalem notability, as “Custodian of the Holy Places”, the office did not last long, however. Katz also shows how the debates about Jerusalem as a possible capital of the Jordanian kingdom were triggered by Israeli politics in relation to the city and the competition with the Egyptian president Nasser rather than being a genuine desire to change the status of the city. An interesting article by Ian S. Lustick discusses the obsession with Jerusalem in Israeli politics since 1967, which has led to the drastic expansion of the municipal boundaries of the city. Lustick underlines how from the late 1980s Arab Jerusalem was not considered part of Jewish Jerusalem, an unknown and occupied territory. He suggests that the question of Jerusalem is pivotal to those seeking a viable peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, and that it would take some political wizardry to solve this part of the Israeli-Palestinian puzzle.

In all this volume is a welcome addition to the field of the history of Jerusalem, offering a broad overview of several themes, historical periods and approaches.