I'm currently writing a paper on the historiography of Nablus. I wasn't completely sure of the direction I was going to take it until my professor suggested I look at old British and European travel journals. As a historian, I get some sort of perverse joy out of finding Orientalist gems like this from a Murray's Handbook for Travelers printed in 1859:
"The Muslem inhabitants (of Nablus) have a bad character and deserve it. They have long been notorious for fanaticism and turbulence ... Travellers, and especially ladies, in passing through the streets are exposed to the most wanton insolence."
Of course this Orientalist stuff is terrible and racist, but finding quotes like this makes for good history papers, thus the perverse excitement.
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