The City of Abraham: History, Myth and Memory: A Journey through Hebron

by Edward Platt

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

One of the world's most divided cities, Hebron is the only place in the West Bank where Palestinians and Israelis live side by side. This book's journey 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, Edward 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 archeologists 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. This book 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2012

About the author

I 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.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Bernard · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Anneke de Bundel · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

too slanted for me. I very much enjoyed the history & might have an idea of what life is like there.