The authors ... recreate the often-told account of [a] beleaguered city, Jerusalem in 1948 ... splicing of man-in-the-street heroics with the drama of backroom politics and diplomacy. ... Collins and Lapierre do not analyze history or draw conclusions from it: what we get is the intersection of personal sacrifices, ambitions, and quirks of fate with the realpolitik of governments and the eccentricities of leaders.