This volume offers a history of Haifa during the period of the 19th century when Europe's penetration of Palestine combined with Istanbul's centralization efforts to alter irrevocably the social fabric of the country and change its political destiny. After tracing the town's beginnings in the early 18th century, the author reconstructs from the few "sijill" volumes that have survived vital aspects of Ottoman Haifa's society and administration. A look at the town's demography is followed by an in-depth discussion of the way inter-communal relations developed after the 1864 "Vilayets" Law had brought a restructuring of the sources of elite power. The author's findings on the social status of Haifa's Muslim women adds to the picture of economic activities tha urban Muslim women in the Ottoman Empire were involved in.