"This is an important work. It deals with a crucial topic in modern Middle Eastern history from many different perspectives. The transformation of the Ottoman economy to commercial agriculture is important both in itself and what it tells us about the social and political changes occurring in the Middle East in the nineteenth century. The combination of perspectives and the faithfulness with which all the authors stick to the central topic give the work an internal integrity which in turn provides a great deal of cumulative insight into the transformation of Ottoman agricultural society and economy." — Bruce Masters, Wesleyan University