History can be retold in many ways. One of the most compelling and fun ways to unfold our past is to have the story reveal itself in a single place, within a set of select families, throughout a series of generations. That is exactly what Adam LeBor does in his gripping, dynamic history of the city of Jaffa, also known, as the title implies, as the City of Oranges and also as the Pride of Palestine.
LeBor deftly weaves together the interactions and tensions between Jews and Arabs and between Christians and Muslims in the modern city of Jaffa, a city with a history that harkens back to ancient times. Today, Jaffa is an integral part of the Israeli megalopolis Tel Aviv, but the resonance of the past can never be erased. Jaffa is a city that is old and new, biblical and cutting edge, religious and secular, Jewish and Arab. Jaffa is a city of extremes and a city of opposites.
LeBor shows us how all these conflicts blend together to create a functioning, imperfect, vital community in the Middle East.