Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths Book

An absolutely essential book if you want to have a prayer of understanding all the violence in the Holy Land. Whether you're Jewish, Christian, Muslim, not religious at all or belong to entirely different faith, this book puts the history out there in a full readable way. This is for a layperson, someone who might not be a scholor and so does not have as much knowledge of Isreal's past, it's politcal upheavals and why things so often result in bloodshed.

If you only listen to the pundits on TV, it's VERY easy to just say "Well it's the Muslim's fault!" but unfortunately for everyone who is invested in peddeling that version of their own truth, it's simply not the case. All 3 of the Abrahamic faiths have had their hand in making Jerusalem, and Isreal itself into the conflict ridden place it is today. This book clears away the uneducated opinions and gives you the unvarnished truth. And then, what you do with it... is now up to you.

Also, this book could be considered the first in a trilogy of sorts about the histories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I'm currently reading the last volume in said trilogy and HIGHLY recommend reading all three. You won't regret it and you'll come away with an ability to know when someone is just pushing an agenda on you and not the facts.