Nicholas Blincoe - Bethlehem: Biography of a Town

Blincoes thoroughness is nothing short of impressive. [Bethlehem] offers a biography so vividly imagined that I jumped when my phone buzzed, interrupting my reverie of Nabatean temples. The reward is in the lush prose and personal accounts. Blincoe is a joyful writer, well suited to the task of evoking place with passages transporting the reader with mouthwatering specificity. More than anything, his love for the place leaps off the page; for all its chronicling of incursions and defeat, this is ultimately a book about hope.

New York Times Book Review

Bethlehem is no straightforward account of this extraordinary little town. Part history, part travelogue and memoir, it reads like an extended love letter to a place on the brink. Blincoe gives himself free rein to share memories, travels, interviews and assorted experiences along the way in a highly discursive, frequently amusing, often tragic but always accessible history.

The Guardian

[Bethlehem] brings within reach 11,000 years of history, centering on the beloved towns unique place in the world. Blincoes love of Bethlehem is compelling, even as he does not shy away from the complexities of its chronicle.

President Jimmy Carter

Stories about places, unlike the stories of individuals, tend to be shifty. Yes, some evidence is there but the connecting human threads have to be imagined. In the clever hands of Nicholas Blincoe, Bethlehem emerges as a wholesome 11,000-year-old, ancient yet lucidly defined with a gripping tale to tell about herself and about the entire region. This tale illuminates both the past and the present of the Middle East with countless instances of fantastic achievement and equally terrible human folly.

Yotam Ottolenghi, coauthor of Jerusalem

Blincoes book is as multifaceted as the city about which he writes. With great skill he accomplishes the daunting task of providing a highly readable account covering the long history of Bethlehem from the Stone Age to modern times. But it is not only a work of scholarship. Its a book by a talented chronicler who lovingly paints the citys many contradictions and bewildering complexity. Highly readable and informative, it leaves the reader not only with a profound admiration for this city of extremes and its resilient inhabitants who have endured such hardships but also with a deep lament at the current suffering of the people of Bethlehem.

Raja Shehadeh, author of Where the Line Is Drawn

A lovely personal adventure through the history of Bethlehem from its origins up to the present day. Blincoe captures the continuities and contradictions, the myths and the history of one of the worlds most famous towns.

Peter Frankopan, author of Silk Roads

This sensitive and human history of Bethlehem from ancient time to our day is the most original and powerful guide you will ever read about this important city. The book succeeds in fusing together the history of more than a millennium with personal recollections, archaeological and morphological insights, as well [as] wonderfully written descriptions of human and geographical landscapes. Relics and stories of the past are used as entry points for uncovering the various chapters in this holy citys history through personal anecdotes and the most recent scholarship, with constant attention to human suffering and hopes.

Ilan Papp

Blincoes remarkable account is stunning in scope and draws on absorbing sources. Interweaving his years of personal familiarity with Bethlehem, he reveals the town as the fulcrum of world history. His gifted writing and nuanced humor make this a must-read, as he sweeps across millennia.

Mary Elizabeth King, author of A Quiet Revolution

A remarkable and important history with fascinating insights round every corner.

Charlie English, author of The Storied City

An exuberant and erudite journey into the real Bethlehem. Each page leads the reader down new and fascinating tangents of history, cuisine, and personal anecdote, each time somehow finding its way back to Bethlehem and its habit of standing at the center of world affairs.

Jacob Norris, author of Land of Progress: Palestine in the Age of Colonial Development

This is a learned, trenchant and badly-needed history of one of the most famous and symbolically-laden, yet woefully misunderstood, cities on earth. Millions believe they care deeply about Bethlehem without knowing the first thing about its history or lived reality. The next time someone feels like singing about this little town, perhaps they should spend some time with Mr. Blincoes illuminating book first.

Hussein Ibish, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington

That [Blincoe] manages to cover so much with an engaging, even jocular, tone is a credit to [his] writing skill. For readers who want to dig deep into the founding of this little town of legend, [Bethlehem] makes for happy reading.

National Catholic Reporter

Having lived in Bethlehem for a number of years, Nicholas Blincoe knows the area intimately. His masterful biography traces humankinds steps from the caves and carvings of the 9th century BCE to the complicated politics of the present day. A powerful and passionate plea for understanding.

The Spectator

A delightful and informative read.

The Sunderland Echo

Using the Gospels, historical documents, archaeology, and his 1907 Baedeker, Blincoe weaves a tapestry of history, geography, and politics that illuminates this most famous of areas, here seen through the eyes of one who knows the place intimately. Deftly written, this narrative has something to offer a wide variety of readers, whether interested in history, archaeology, religious connection, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Library Journal, starred review

A history of the town of Bethlehem, both sweeping and personal in scope. [A] highly readable, anecdote-infused history.