Jerusalem : City of Mirrors

''A brilliantly illuminating book.'' Philip Roth

Jerusalem: City of Mirrors is an absorbing contemplation of the fabled city which for the Western mind remains as much a myth as a physical reality.

First published in 1990, Amos Elon''s elegant, dazzling biography of Jerusalem gives a profound insight into the kaleidoscopic culture of this eternally magical city. Battle-scarred from four thousand years of violent conflict, the holy city is a sacred symbol of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and its religious wars of today reflect those of the past - Arab versus Jew, orthodox versus secular, continuity versus change.

''Elon''s Jerusalem is both a learned book and a charming one ... He places us before a veritable many-layered mountain of myth and history, a compressed symbol of our most sublime aspirations along with our most disgusting, hatefully brainless excursions into religious bigotry and fratricide. It is a book as complex and surprising as the city itself.'' Arthur Miller

''A superbly readable study.''Jewish Chronicle

''A book which should be read by all.'' Catholic Herald