Page:Harry Charles Luke and Edward Keith-Roach - The Handbook of Palestine (1922).djvu/19

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INTRODUCTION

necessary to go back to the time of the Crusades for a change as fundamental as that which is involved in the ending of the Turkish Administration and the substitution of a British Mandate. An era of new development opens widely before her. A multitude of new problems arise. To the importance of the country as a centre of religious associations, new political and economic considerations are added.

In these circumstances a Handbook of Palestine—accurate and readable as this Handbook is—will be of service; both to those whose interest is distant, and to those who, more fortunate, are able to visit the country, to experience the charm of its scenery and climate, to come into contact with its history, to study at first hand the many complexities of its present-day problems, and, above all, to hear the voice of its spiritual appeal.

HERBERT SAMUEL.