Tawfiq Canaan: An Autobiography

Autobiographies give a unique, eyewitness account of historical events experienced by one particular person, an account of a life with all its ups and downs, struggles and failures, successes and setbacks. Canaan autobiography recounts a very rich life of one of Palestine's leading ethnographers, medical doctor, public figure and one of the most productive intellectuals in the first half of the twentieth century. He recalls the socio-economic and political history of Palestine through the unique prism of his access to different strata in Palestinian society, something few others could replicate. Canaan's autobiography spans a period of seven decades of Palestinian history from the late Ottoman to the early Jordanian period: a condensed history of the whole country of Palestine. Through his words, we live the history of a whole nation, we feel the tectonic shift that took place in Palestine as one empire replaced another, and as Jewish immigrants replaced the displaced Palestinians.