The History of Jerusalem: An Illustrated Story of 4,000 Years

Historian Lemire (Jerusalem: History of a Global City) compresses millennia into a nimble graphic chronicle of the holy city, drawn by Gaultier (Dungeon). Narrated by Zeitoun, a 4,000-year-old olive tree, the story of Jerusalem’s founding is told first through archaeological relics, then across the fates of successive conquering empires. Key moments are highlighted by profiles of major figures, such as Arculf, a Frankish bishop in the 600s, and mid-1800s mayor Yousef Al-Khalidi. Lemire proves adept at balancing myth and scriptural accounts with secular history, uncovering how the city was reconceptualized by Jews, then by Christians who remapped it to create “a new Christian topography of Jerusalem,” and next by Muslims who conquered it and launched an uneasy pluralism, until the Crusades “devastated, stripped, [and] depopulated” the city. An accounting of more recent history shows the ways in which Protestants reshaped pilgrimage to the holy city and how Zionism reframed the contest over control. The focus remains tightly on the city itself (rather than the global political and religious forces outside its borders), and Lemire maintains a brisk pace. Gaultier’s stylized European comics art offers distinct character designs that immediately telegraph eras, balanced against clarity of detail in architecture and backgrounds, all rendered in natural colors. This sweeping yet digestible account showcases a city with many overlapping meanings. (May)