Jerusalem: The Biography

In Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore, the author does an admirable job of providing the history of the Holy City in condensed form (the paperback runs over 700 pages).  

There is nothing extraordinary about the book, and by the same token, nothing that stands out as poorly done or incomplete.

This book is simply a good, informative account of the complex history of one very important city.  To me, it appears exhaustive, covering every time period from the prehistoric to the modern city and everything in between.

I suppose this is a “go to” book for the layman interested in the city holy to three major religions.