Many would be surprised to learn that Singapore has been home to a thriving Jewish community for almost 170 years – and even more surprised that the community traces its roots to Baghdad, Iraq.

To give a full picture of the community, Joan Bieder weaves together information from interviews, oral histories, memoirs, personal letters, family documents, photographs, correspondence and government records from Singapore, Israeli, Dutch and British archives, and traces the histories of the community’s larger-than-life leaders and their families.

Told through an introduction and 18 chapters, Bieder reveals how Jewish community members in Singapore suffered, survived and prospered to the present times.