EDHEM ELDEM, DANIEL GOFFMAN, AND BRUCE MASTERS, The OttomanCity Between East and West, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1999). Pp. 260. $59.95 cloth.

Extract

Ever since Max Weber posited the ideal-typical distinction between Oriental and Occidental cities in his essays on the economic history of Europe, many historians of the Middle East have grappled with his model. The debate about the existence of the “Oriental” or, more specifically, the “Islamic” city and the validity of Weber's construct have led to the growth of a sizable body of literature on the topic. In this collection of their essays, Masters, Goffman, and Eldem approach this question from a different angle. They ask not so much whether the “Islamic City” exists, but whether there was such a thing as an Ottoman city. Based on their work on Aleppo, Izmir, and Istanbul in the 17th and 18th centuries, they come up with an answer that can be described as a qualified no.