This is a study of the apocalyptic views and struggles between various religious groups, namely Jews, Christians and Muslims, over Jerusalem's Temple Mount, believed to be the key to salvation as the end of the world, the apocalypse, draws near. In this book, Gorenberg weaves a story that stretches from California churches to West Bank settlements, explaining why believers hope for the end of the world, and why prominent American fundamentalists provide hard-line support for Israel, while looking forward to an apocalypse in which they expect Jews to die or else convert. He tries to make sense of the messianic fervour that has driven Israeli settlers to oppose peace, and describes the Islamic apocalyptic visions that cast Israel's actions in Jerusalem as diabolic plots. At the centre of this turmoil is the site known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Al Aqsa. Modern Jewish and Christian messianic activists have aspired to rebuild the Third Jewish Temple, each in fulfillment of different biblical prophecies.