Nine Quarters of Jerusalem: A New Biography of the Old City

Description

In Jerusalem, what you see and what is true are two different things. The Old City has never had 'four quarters' as its maps proclaim. And beyond the crush and frenzy of its major religious sites, many of its quarters are little known to visitors, its people ignored and their stories untold. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem lets the communities of the Old City speak for themselves. Ranging from ancient past to political present, it evokes the city's depth and cultural diversity. Matthew Teller's highly original 'biography' features not just Jerusalem's Palestinian and Jewish communities, but its African and Indian voices, its Greek and Armenian and Syriac communities, its downtrodden Dom-gypsy families and its Sufi mystics. It discusses the sources of Jerusalem's holiness and the ideas - often startlingly secular - that have shaped lives within its walls. It is an evocation of place through story, led by the voices of Jerusalemites.

Matthew Teller is an author, journalist and documentary-maker. He writes for the BBC, CNN, The Times, Financial Times, Independent and Guardian and presents and produces documentaries for Radio 4 and BBC World Service. He is a regular on 'From Our Own Correspondent' programme, reporting from around the Middle East and beyond. He has been visiting Jerusalem since childhood.

'Matthew Teller's Jordan is in my view the best Rough Guide we ever published - a book that combines superb telling of history with contemporary insights, and which conveys a superb understanding of the whole regional politics. It is also a book full of voices. Matthew has the best attributes of a travel writer: he goes out and listens' - Mark Ellingham, founder