European & Islamic Trade in the Early Ottoman Stat

International trade was of great importance for the Ottomans in the construction of their empire. Kate Fleet's book examines the trade links which existed between European merchants and their Muslim counterparts from the beginnings of the Ottoman empire in 1300 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. By using previously unexploited Latin and Turkish sources, and by focusing on the trading partnership between the Genoese and the Turks, she demonstrates how this interaction contributed to the economic development of the early Ottoman state and, indeed, to Ottoman territorial expansion. Where other studies have emphasized the military prowess of the early Ottoman state and its role as 'the infidel enemy', the book offers an insight into its economic aspirations and eventual integration into the economy of the Mediterranean basin. This is a readable, authoritative and innovative study which illuminates our understanding of an obscure period in early Ottoman history.

Review: '... the work conveys a new perspective on early Ottoman history and the Eastern Mediterranean of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Most importantly, Fleet has cogently brought the economy back in to the early Ottoman narrative.' Mediterranean Historical Review

'... a welcome contribution to the Ottoman studies and highlights the early period from an angle that has previously been largely overlooked.' Acta Orientalia

'... meticulously written ... a solid piece of scholarship, the book will be much used by future scholars.' Studia Orientalia

"This book makes a substantial contribution to our knowledge of the material relationships between eastern Mediterranean societies during the early modern period of European history...the book has the potential to ignite a good argument about Mediterranean commercial capitalism during the period of history that she wished to enliven." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Fleet's rigorously researched monograph will alter the way the history of the Ottomans is perceived and may erode many long-established stereotypes." Choice

"The work thus accomplished is impressive - un travail de ben^'edictin - and constitutes an invaluable contribution to the underdeocumented economic history of the region...Fleet's study deserves unquestionable praise for the courage and determination shown in exploring and revealing a wealth of documentation on this understudied area of Anatolian economic history." Journal of Economic History

"This is a valuable work; I have already put it to good use in my own work." Mesa Bulletin, Palmira Brummet, University of Tennessee

"...This book represents impressive work with published and unpublished primary sources. I expect that Mediterranean medievalist will be able to mine it for archival gold." International Journal Middle of East Studies

"Fleet is meticulous researcher. She has extracted a rich lode of information from the Italian archives and the Genoese notarial records in particular. In addition to costs of transport and prices of goods, this documentation provides a picture of everyday institutions and commerical culture...this book contains some useful summaries of specialist knowledge of interest to historians...This book is, as its title states, a concise history. It covers a long time period, from the mid-1600s until approximately 1997...Readers will thus have a well-developed sense of how the facts that they are given fit into the chapter's narrative as a whole...Ross does an excellent job of incorporating the conclusions of numerous small-scale social historical studies, which have often provided the cutting edge to South Africa." African and the Middle East