SARAH D. SHIELDS, Mosul before Iraq: Like Bees MakingFive-sided Cells, SUNY Series in the Social and Economic History of the Middle East(Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000). Pp. 292. $68.50 cloth, $22.95 paper.

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Despite the long-standing political and practical difficulties of doing research about Iraq, the scholarly world has recently witnessed the publication of several outstanding historical works on the Ottoman period. Hala Fattah and Dina Rizk Khoury in particular have set in their books a high standard of thorough research, careful analysis, and thoughtful conclusions. Now, in this long-awaited book, Sarah Shields lives up to her predecessors' standard by making her own excellent contribution to the study of Ottoman Iraq.