Bethlehem: Biography of a Town

Fascinating study of the little town with a big history Author Nicholas Blincoe Publisher Constable Price £10.99 Released Out now

Everyone knows the name Bethlehem but few know the history of the town beyond what (may have) happened there 2019 years ago. Blincoe’s important, compact Bethlehem: Biography of a Town is the remedy to this. Tracing 11,000 years of human habitation in 200 pages the author never fails to give us an atmospheric journey. The pages are wafted with the incense from its churches.

The story begins with the Ain Sakhri Lovers – a 10cm carved stone with the earliest depiction of humans making love discovered near the town. Just like this statue Blincoe’s book is an intimate one that reads in parts like a travel guide but never loses focus on his target. Blincoe has walked the streets of Bethlehem and wants to show you all their mysteries.

Despite his central role in the story of Bethlehem Jesus only features briefly. It is how people have responded to Jesus that has shaped the city. From St Helena building the Church of the Nativity onwards, the women of the early church make for fascinating historical studies and feature heavily here.

The relationship between Saints Paula and Jerome that reshaped Bethlehem is used to explore the relationship between women and Christianity as a whole. The struggles and wars for control of the holy sites of Bethlehem can seem quaint but the later chapters bring the grim realities of history to life.

As power passes from the British, to Israeli, to Palestinian the ruin of lives caught in an impossible political situation is made clear.

“Tracing 11,000 years of human habitation in 200 pages the author never fails to give us an atmospheric journey”