Review by Booklist Review
Editor's note: It is Booklist policy that a book written or edited by a staff editor receive a brief descriptive announcement rather than a full review. Cooper (A Woman in the House (and Senate), 2014) returns with this sorely needed look at the site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. In a mere 144 pages, Cooper blends religion, archaeology, and history to present a story beginning in 1010 BCE a story that seems nowhere close to ending. The focus, of course, is on understanding what led to the endless conflict between the Arab world and Israel that centers upon the holy site. Cooper considers biblical history always being careful to note when that history can't be corroborated as well as more established facts. Using photos, maps, and helpful cutaway illustrations, the book covers every major phase of the exalted hilltop location while still making room for fascinating tangents (what happened to the Ark of the Covenant?). It's a feat to be able to make sense of a such a long, bloody series of battles, and Cooper's work will be appreciated by young readers, and perhaps just as much by adults wanting to wrap their brains around the thorny conflict.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
This inclusive history of Jerusalem's Temple Mount and the Noble Sanctuary profiles its several incarnations as a holy place of worship for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Beginning almost four thousand years ago, Cooper relates the site's convoluted, volatile history through objective text, black-and-white photographs, maps, and detailed architectural drawings. It's a valuable source for research or general enlightenment. Timeline. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The long and troubled history of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and its place in three of the major religions of the world is told in all its complicated glory. Beginning over 4,000 years ago in the time of the Canaanites and continuing until the current millennium, Cooper tackles the daunting task of providing a mostly linear history of this place that has been built, destroyed, rebuilt, captured, and controlled by nearly every culture, sect, faction, or faith ever found in that part of the world. Of course it is not just the history of the temple, but of the city of Jerusalem that surrounds it. Names and dates fly in an unrelenting flow of information, barely allowing readers to grasp the material before moving on to the next era. The author maintains an accessible, neutral, and evenhanded narration, encompassing Jewish, Christian, and Muslim viewpoints and motivations, while taking almost obsessive care in documenting every person and event with references from the Bible or Quran and, wherever possible, with historical or archaeological findings. There is a plethora of black-and-white illustrations, of varying degrees of clarity, in the form of archival illustrations, maps, and photographs. It is a fascinating, frightening, bloody, and deeply disturbing tale. However, dedicated older readers will find much to ponder. (Finished illustrations not seen.) Inspiring and hopeful if not easy. (author's note, notes, bibliography)(Nonfiction. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
