This book was a true joy to read. There is very little archive material of Palestinian life at the end of the Ottoman Empire because of the loss of Palestinian cultural property during the 1948 ethnic cleansing and dispossession of Palestine. Jawhariyyeh's memoirs bring that period and the British mandate to life, depicting a cosmopolitan Jerusalem where musicians throughout the Arab world would come and exchange ideas. It's impossible to imagine this happening in Jerusalem today. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Arabic music, Jerusalem, and pre-1948 history of Palestine. There are insightful essays by Salim Tamari and Rachel Beckles Wilson. I only wish it had an index. ( )