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The City of Abraham
The City of Abraham is a journey to the heart of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and an account of the shared roots of the three great monotheistic religions of the Middle East.
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. Through a mixture of travel writing, reportage and interviews, Platt tells the history of the hill and the city in which it stands, and explores the mythic roots of the struggle to control the land.
He meets the Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida, and the messianic settlers who have made their homes in a block of flats that stands on stilts on an excavated corner of the site. He meets the archaeologists who have attempted to reconstruct the history of the hill. He meets the soldiers who serve in Hebron, and the intermediaries who try to keep the peace in the divided city. The City of Abraham explores the ways in which Hebron’s past continues to inform its tumultuous present, and illuminates the lives of the people at the heart of the most intractable conflict in the world.
‘Hebron, the ‘City of Abraham’, is a much bigger, older but grimmer place than Ramallah. The grimness comes, beyond the burdens of occupation, from the aggressive presence of a small Jewish settler community in its midst, and the massive Israeli force which guards them. Behind that lie the rival Jewish and Muslim religious claims to the city's heritage, and the accretion of myth and pseudo-history. The City of Abraham is Edward Platt's very personal attempt to disentangle all that… compelling … Platt gets up close to the settlers – and finds them a strikingly if predictably unattractive lot.’
Stephen Howe, the Independent, 6th October 2012
‘It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of the subject, either politically or theologically… Platt has no ideological or religious axe to grind… This disinterest allows him to listen to all parties – soldiers, activists, local Arabs and Jewish settlers… his book grows in strength, and in its power to dismay.’
Harry Ritchie, The Mail on Sunday, 7th October 2012
This first-rate account blends a study of the “history wars” over Jewish and Muslim claims on sacred sites with sensitive reports on the experiences of local people, settlers and soldiers.’
The i, 11th October 2012
‘Edward Platt made his name with Leadville, a funny yet forbidding description of the A40 and those living along that traffic-bound thoroughfare. At first glance, his new book, The City of Abraham, couldn’t be more different. It is an investigation of the the ancient settlement where Abraham, patriarch of Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, is supposed to have lived. The link, as Platt fascinatingly shows, is that religious conflict present and past is bound up with the built environment.’
Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller, August 2012
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. Through a mixture of travel writing, reportage and interviews, Platt tells the history of the hill and the city in which it stands, and explores the mythic roots of the struggle to control the land.
He meets the Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida, and the messianic settlers who have made their homes in a block of flats that stands on stilts on an excavated corner of the site. He meets the archaeologists who have attempted to reconstruct the history of the hill. He meets the soldiers who serve in Hebron, and the intermediaries who try to keep the peace in the divided city. The City of Abraham explores the ways in which Hebron’s past continues to inform its tumultuous present, and illuminates the lives of the people at the heart of the most intractable conflict in the world.
‘Hebron, the ‘City of Abraham’, is a much bigger, older but grimmer place than Ramallah. The grimness comes, beyond the burdens of occupation, from the aggressive presence of a small Jewish settler community in its midst, and the massive Israeli force which guards them. Behind that lie the rival Jewish and Muslim religious claims to the city's heritage, and the accretion of myth and pseudo-history. The City of Abraham is Edward Platt's very personal attempt to disentangle all that… compelling … Platt gets up close to the settlers – and finds them a strikingly if predictably unattractive lot.’
Stephen Howe, the Independent, 6th October 2012
‘It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of the subject, either politically or theologically… Platt has no ideological or religious axe to grind… This disinterest allows him to listen to all parties – soldiers, activists, local Arabs and Jewish settlers… his book grows in strength, and in its power to dismay.’
Harry Ritchie, The Mail on Sunday, 7th October 2012
This first-rate account blends a study of the “history wars” over Jewish and Muslim claims on sacred sites with sensitive reports on the experiences of local people, settlers and soldiers.’
The i, 11th October 2012
‘Edward Platt made his name with Leadville, a funny yet forbidding description of the A40 and those living along that traffic-bound thoroughfare. At first glance, his new book, The City of Abraham, couldn’t be more different. It is an investigation of the the ancient settlement where Abraham, patriarch of Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, is supposed to have lived. The link, as Platt fascinatingly shows, is that religious conflict present and past is bound up with the built environment.’
Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller, August 2012
- GenresNonfictionTravelHistory
372 pages, Hardcover
First published September 13, 2012
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About the author
Edward Platt
8 books5 followersI have written three books: Leadville: A Biography of the A40 (Picador 2000), which won a Somerset Maugham Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was short-listed for two other awards; The City of Abraham (Picador, 2012); and The Great Flood: Travels through a Sodden Landscape (Picador 2019), which was a Radio 4 Book of the Week. I am a contributing writer at the New Statesman, and a regular contributor to other newspapers and magazines. I was born in Essex in 1968, and grew up in Hampshire, Northumberland, and the Wirral. I have lived in London since 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 12, 2014
A most comprehensive book about the history, archaeology, and current situation in the City of Hebron. It took me a long time to read but it was well worth it. Journalistic in style but a deep insight to the problems encountered by Israelis and Palestinians in this sacred place.
Lots of interviews with the locals and good descriptions of the whole environment. The photographs are very special and create a stark atmosphere of this contested region.
I have given this a 5 star rating as I felt the author has done an incredible job in creating a highly readable book about a very complex situation.
Lots of interviews with the locals and good descriptions of the whole environment. The photographs are very special and create a stark atmosphere of this contested region.
I have given this a 5 star rating as I felt the author has done an incredible job in creating a highly readable book about a very complex situation.
October 3, 2013
The story of Hebron is at the origins of Israel and at the heart of the current israeli-palestinian conflict. Some very interesting facts bout the 20th century history of the city, such as jewish settlers building new homes directly on archeological ruins to exemplify the continuity of their presence in the city...
An overall too factual writing that has not kept me engaged.
An overall too factual writing that has not kept me engaged.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2012
Fantastically written journalistic & literary account of the history of Hebron and the Palistinian-Israeli conflict. Must read for everyone interested in the history of the conflict.
March 29, 2017
too slanted for me. I very much enjoyed the history & might have an idea of what life is like there.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews