Bethlehem

Majestic . . . [a] book of many marvellous things -- John Lewis-Stempel * S magazine * An exuberant and erudite journey into the real Bethlehem. Each page leads the reader down new and fascinating tangents of history, cuisine, and personal anecdote, each time somehow finding its way back to Bethlehem and its habit of standing at the centre of world affairs * JACOB NORRIS, author of Land of Progress: Palestine in the Age of Colonial * A book by a talented chronicler who lovingly paints the city's many contradictions and bewildering complexity. Highly readable and informative, it leaves the reader not only with a profound admiration for this city of extremes and its resilient inhabitants who have endured such hardships, but also with a deep lament at the current suffering of the people of Bethlehem * RAJA SHEHADEH , author of Where the Line Is Drawn * [Bethlehem] illuminates both the past and the present of the Middle East with countless instances of fantastic achievement and equally terrible human folly * YOTAM OTTOLENGHI, co-author of Jerusalem * [Bethlehem] brings within reach 11,000 years of history, centering on the beloved town's unique place in the world. Blincoe's love of Bethlehem is compelling, even as he does not shy away from the complexities of its chronicle * PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER * A lovely personal adventure through the history of Bethlehem from its origins up to the present day. Blincoe captures the continuities and contradictions, the myths and the history of one of the world's most famous towns with real flair * PETER FRANKOPAN, author of Silk Roads *