Great Britain was the first European power to establish a consulate in Jerusalem, soon to be followed by other nations. When the consulate was forced to close late in 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the consular records were burnt to avoid their falling into the hands of the Turkish authorities. Mordechai Eliav has selected 135 documents dating from the appointment of the first consul in 1838 until the final report in the closing down of the consulate in November 1914. The documents are not only indicative of the activities of the consulate and its officials; they reflect political, social and economic developments in Palestine as a whole, and in Jerusalem in particular, for almost 75 years, and the British interest aid involvement in these developments. This volume is an important contribution to British diplomatic history as well as to the history of nineteenth-century Palestine.
