This book narrates the story of the Donmeh, the descendants of those Jews who resided in the Ottoman Empire and converted to Islam along with their Messiah, the rabbi Shabbetai Zevi, in the 17th century.

For two centuries following their conversion, the Donmeh were accepted as Muslims, and by the end of the 19th century they reached the pinnacle of society in Thessaloniki. The Donmeh significantly contributed to transforming Thessaloniki into a cosmopolitan city, promoting new innovations in trade and the economy, urban reform, and modern education.

They ultimately became the driving force behind the revolution of 1908 that led to the overthrow of the Ottoman Sultan and the establishment of a secular democracy in Turkey. For their supporters, the Donmeh are enlightened secularists and Turkish nationalists who fought against the dark forces of superstition and religious obscurantism. For their opponents, they were merely crypto-Jews involved in a conspiracy to dissolve the Islamic empire.