Dying for Jerusalem: The Past, Present and Future of the Holiest City

The Past, Present and Future of the Holiest CityWhy has a symbol become such a tremendous political issue? Whence the insistence on the part of the religious nationalists on keeping Jerusalem as the permanent and exclusive capital? And why the insistence by Palestinians on having it as their capital, which it never was in the past?Why are people who do not want to live in Jerusalem willing to die for it?Praise for Walter Laquer from the New York Times:"Among the last of a remarkable generation of German Jewish intellectuals, Walter Laquer has seen and survived much of this century's agitated history. He has also written cogently, even preciently, about it for more than 40 years."(Review of Facism: Past, Present, Future)"Walter Laquer--a deeply learned polygot historian, whose expertise ranges from 19th-century Germany to 20th-century Egypt--has for decades stood out as one of the very few sober and intelligent voices in this undistinguised crowd."(Review of No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century)"One of our most distinguished scholars of modern European history."(Review of Black Hundred: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia)