in his new book, simon sebag montefiore chronicles the history of this place. the book is call "jerusalem: the biography." i'm pleased to have time back at this table. >> welcome. >> thank you, great to be here. >> i took note of this notion, "the biography" rathe than "a biography." >> yes. the idea is there are many books about bits of jerusalem as you know, but there are very few complete histories of jerusalem and there are many books about architecture, about holiness and of course, this book is about those things as well but it's called the biography because jerusalem itself is a character. always described in the jewish scriptures as a beautiful woman. but also i wanted to write about the people that made jerusalem. poets, prophets, conquer conquerers, whores, kings, emesss, the people that made a city and lived in it. >> not just a place of building and holy sights. >> rose: not just a dusty place of historic buildings but people who inhabited the streets and corners. >> that's right. >> rose: how did you choose where to start and end? you started in 70