"...very concise, lucid, methodic and insightful...This book is a milestone in historical studies of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire." – Maria Eftymiou, in: BHMA, 2003"...full of detail and touching upon every possible aspect regarding the life and times of the early Jewish community of Istanbul…" – Sara Nur Yildiz, in: H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences, 2003"...a major contribution to Jewish and Ottoman social history" – Avigdor Levy, in: International Journal of Middle East Studies, 2004"...an important study that offers much insight into the life of Jews in early modern Istanbul" – Marc Baer, in: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient XLVII (2004)