An exciting and timely new book by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, the team who wrote the international bestseller The Bible Unearthed.

THE JERUSALEM EFFECT:
How a Remote Highland Stronghold Became the Most Contested City in the World
by Israel Finkelstein & Neil Asher Silberman
St. Martin’s Press, Spring 2028
(via the Carol Mann Agency)

Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman’s The Bible Unearthed has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. Finkelstein is Israel’s most senior and distinguished archaeologist. Their upcoming book The Jerusalem Effect: How a Remote Highland Stronghold Became the Most Contested City in the World offers a new look at one of the most venerated–and disputed–cities in the world.  It asks why this small, highland city on the edge of the desert has mattered so much to so many for so long. Through cutting-edge technology and study of ancient to modern texts, The Jerusalem Effect shows us how the archaeology and history of Jerusalem teaches us about some of today’s most urgent and geopolitical religious conflicts.

Finkelstein and Silberman critically depart from most other books concerned with Jerusalem and the Middle East through their innovative framework dubbed « The Jerusalem Effect »: an enduring belief that physical control of Jerusalem is proof of divine favor. Jerusalem, they argue, has become the flashpoint for the clash of two opposing ideologies: a desire to make the city pure and untouchable, and an outward-facing ambition to tie the city’s future to alliances with powerful empires around the world. At a moment when sacred geography and political identity are again colliding—from Jerusalem and Kyiv to Washington and Tehran—The Jerusalem Effect offers a unifying perspective on the history that lies behind today’s headlines. 

In an era of disinformation, populism, and religious polarization, this book offers not just history but perspective—a diagnosis of why the myth of sacred possession continues to enthrall the modern world, and a warning that the drama first staged in Jerusalem over three thousand years ago is still being replayed on today’s political and spiritual stage. Writing for a wide general audience, The Jerusalem Effect is for anyone who wants to understand why this one city continues to ignite such faith and discord across the globe.

Israel Finkelstein is among the most influential archaeologists of his generation. A member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Finkelstein has also been featured on CNN and on news and opinion stories on European broadcast and streaming networks.

Neil Asher Silberman is an American archaeologist, historian, and heritage theorist whose writings and leadership in public archaeology have shaped international practice. A former Guggenheim Fellow and editor of the 3-volume Oxford Companion to Archaeology, he has been a frequent commentator and national lecturer for heritage-policy bodies and museum projects.

Together, Finkelstein and Silberman form a team uniquely positioned to contribute to the public media conversation at a time of renewed global interest in the politics of faith and identity. The Bible Unearthed continues to appear on academic and commercial reading lists two decades after publication, ensuring a substantial built-in audience for The Jerusalem Effect.