Palestine in the Victorian Age: Colonial Encounters in the Holy Land

The book "Palestine in the Victorian Age" argues that the contest over Palestine has its roots in the 19th century, with Victorians casting the Holy Land as an area to be possessed by empire and devising schemes for its settler colonization. It reveals how indigenous Palestinians began to react against or accommodate themselves to the West's fascination with their ancestral land, from travellers trying to overturn Jerusalems holiest sites to an uprising sparked by a church bell and a missionary's tragic actions.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 20 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Narratives of modern history of Palestine/Israel often begin with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and Britain's arrival in 1917. However, this work argues that the contest over Palestine has its roots deep in the 19th century, with Victorians who first cast the Holy Land as an area to be possessed by empire and then began to devise schemes for its settler colonization. The product of historical research among almost forgotten guidebooks, archives, and newspaper clippings, this book presents a previously unwritten chapter of Britain's colonial desire and reveals how indigenous Palestinians began to react against or accommodate themselves to the West's fascination with their ancestral land. From the travelers who tried to overturn Jerusalem's holiest sites to an uprising sparked by a church bell and a missionary's tragic actions, to one Palestinian's eventful visit to the heart of the British Empire, Palestine in the Victorian Age reveals how the events of the nineteenth century have cast a long shadow over the politics of Palestine/Israel ever since.

Weight: 420g
Dimension: 156 x 233 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780755643134