Jerusalem Books in Order

The Jerusalem series is Falconer’s long view of how one small strip of land became the focus of so much hope and grief in the mid twentieth century. Spanning roughly fifteen years, from the 1930s to the late 1940s, the four novels follow characters on both sides of the emerging conflict that turns British Mandate Palestine into the state of Israel.

The opening book, Jerusalem, introduces Netanel, a young Jewish man who has survived the camps in Europe and arrives in Palestine with little left except anger and the hope of safety. Around him are fellow refugees, long established Jewish families, British administrators and Arab communities who see the land as theirs and fear what the influx of newcomers will mean. The novel focuses less on leaders and more on people trying to rebuild families and lives in a place that is already under strain.

Freedom and Zion deepen and widen the picture. On the Arab side Falconer gives space to characters like Rishou and his brothers, men who have grown up in villages and towns that suddenly feature on someone else’s map. They call the place Palestine and think of it as home long before borders harden. As protests turn to riots and riots to war, their choices are narrowed by forces they do not control – imperial politics, militant groups and neighbours forced into opposing militias.

On the Jewish side the novels track the shift from refugee communities and underground organizations to the formation of an army and a government in waiting. Sabotage, reprisals and hostage takings are shown not as abstract headlines but as the desperate acts of people who have run out of peaceful options and, in some cases, out of patience.

By the final volume, Israel, the British have left, the United Nations has voted and full scale war has arrived. Villages are emptied, cities change hands and everyone is pushed to decide not just where they stand, but who they are. Falconer does not pretend there are easy heroes here. Netanel and Rishou carry their own prejudices, grief and blind spots, and the books are clear that suffering and guilt exist on all sides.

What makes the series distinctive is its attempt to hold two truths at once. The novels are built from interviews and on the ground research and make room for both Jewish and Arab narratives, showing how each group can feel entirely justified and yet be blind to the pain of the other. Long friendships are strained, love affairs are tested and families are scattered.

The tone is that of a historical thriller – there are ambushes, prison breaks and last minute escapes – but the human cost is always front and centre. Readers come away with a sense of how quickly neighbours can become enemies, and how long the scars of those first years still run through the region today.