The End of Days

In this provocative work, seasoned journalist Gershom Gorenberg portrays a deadly mix of religious extremism, violence, and Mideast politics, as expressed in the struggle for the sacred center of Jerusalem. Known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, this thirty-five-acre enclosure at the southeast corner of Jerusalem's Old City is the most contested piece of real estate on earth. Here nationalism combines with fundamentalist faith in a volatile brew. Members of the world's three major monotheistic faiths--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--hold this spot to be the key to salvation as they await the end of the world, and struggle to fulfill conflicting religious prophecies with dangerous political consequences. Adroitly portraying American radio evangelists of the End, radical Palestinian sheikhs, and Israeli ex-terrorists, Gorenberg explains why believers hope for the End, and why prominent American fundamentalists provide hard-line support for Israel while looking forward to the apocalypse. He makes sense of the messianic fervor that has driven some Israeli settlers to oppose peace. And he describes the Islamic apocalyptic visions that cast Israel's actions in Jerusalem as diabolic plots. The End of Days shows how conflict over Jerusalem and the fiery belief in apocalypse continue to have a potent impact on world politics and why a lasting peace in the Middle East continues to prove elusive.

A seasoned journalist guides readers through the violent struggle for Jerusalem's sacred Temple Mount.

Gorenberg...shows himself an insightful listener.--The New York Times Book Review

Dismayingly good history....Gorenberg's book predicts not only the eruption but the location of each fault line.--Washington Post Book World

A prescient and invaluable guide to understanding the collapse of the peace process and the dangerously escalating conflict that has replaced it....Gorenberg's vivid descriptions of the setting and his well-crafted development of the characters make this book read like a millennial thriller, leaving the reader with a bone-chilling sensation about the violent events currently unfolding in Jerusalem.--Boston Globe

Gorenberg's prescience is manifest....This valuable study greatly enhances readers' grasp of [the] Middle East's religious and political complexities.--Publishers Weekly, starred review

Few American journalists understand evangelical theology well enough to explain the Christian Right, few Israeli journalists take messianic Zionism seriously enough to explain the right-wing settlers, and few of either investigate Islam as more than a caricature. Gershom Gorenberg has the intellectual depth and journalistic curiosity to do all three, and as a result, his warnings chill the bone.--The New Republic