American Consuls in the Holy Land, 1832-1914 (review)

168 SHOFAR Spring 1996 Vol. 14, No.3 BOOK REVIEWS American Consuls in the Holy Land, 1832-1914, by Ruth Kark. Jerusalem and Detroit: Magnes Press of the Hebrew University with Wayne State University Press, 1994. 388 pp. $49.95. This very solid, readable, and attractive work belongs in the library of everyone interested in the history of American diplomacy in the Middle East, the origins of Zionism, and nineteenth-century Palestine until the eve of World War I. The author, a geographer on the faculty of the Hebrew University, has examined all the relevant archives in Israel, the United States, and Great Britain. This includes, also, the valuable German consular correspondence which belongs to the Israel State Archives in Jerusalem. Her extensive bibliography will be useful to anyone seeking further information on the subject. All sources are acknowledged in clear and complete footnotes. The work opens with Professor Kark's analysis of the difference between Christian concepts ofJerusalem as an idealized spiritual essence and the Jewish view of the restoration of Zion as a physical accomplishment . She relates that contrast to the interests which brought nineteenthcentury Americans to Jerusalem. Beginning the body of her book with a very careful examination of the origins of the office of consul going back to the Italian renaissance, she defines and discusses the concept of "capitulations," those concessions to foreign consuls by Ottoman Turkey, which allowed them to serve as judge, jury, and protector of their fellow nationals living abroad. That essential discussion explores the means whereby consuls broadened their power base by extending their protection to proteges whose claim to the consul's citizenship was tenuous, indeed. Chapter by chapter, the author covers the earliest relationships between the United States and the Turkish Empire, the opening of United States diplomatic ties in Constantinople, the first consular agencies in Palestine, and finally the actual opening of a consulate in Jerusalem. Professor Kark devotes the bulk of the book to an examination of the work of United States Consuls in Jerusalem. Each aspect of that work is covered systematically and in detail. What could have been a dull recitation of cold facts is rescued and rendered lively by the descriptions of the foibles of all the successive men who held that post. Jewish readers will probably find the exotic and tragic career of Warder Cresson the most interesting. That Pennsylvania Quaker who pursued religious truth through Book Reviews 169 a succession of churches finally accepted circumcIsion and became an observant Jew. In doing so, he lost the consulate which he coveted and was dismissed as insane, but was idealized by the Jews ofJerusalem and earned, in death, a tomb on the Mount of Olives, reserved for the most respected Jewish scholars. Both the charm and the scholarly value of the book are enhanced by a series of appendices which will make this work essential for anyone doing research in Palestinian history henceforth. Those appendices include a lengthy and very vivid biography of each man who held the office of consul at Jerusalem. They also list all the consuls who served at Beirut, as well as the names and dates of service for the subordinate employees of the consulate. Even the consular agents who served at Jaffa, Acre, and Haifa from 1832 to 1917 are listed. In a real example of icing on the cake, the names and dates of service of all United States Secretaries of State and Ministers at Constantinople from 1831 to the era ofWorld War I are given. The book is handsomely illustrated with portraits of the most notable personalities discussed, scenes from nineteenth-century Palestine, rare maps showing the extent of Turkish government jurisdictions, and even views of the original and present-day United States consular buildings. A valuable glossary provides clear explanations of all Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, and English technical vocabulary. Because the original manuscript was written in Hebrew, the actual English text was the work ofJoseph Shadur. There is only an occasional instance of wooden clumsiness in an otherwise smooth literary presentation . It certainly presents no obstacle to pleasant reading. The only error in proofreading caught by this reviewer was a reference to the Battle of Cold Harbor...