"Focusing on the Egyptian port city of Rosetta, Zoe Griffith refutes the widespread claim that European merchants monopolized commerce in the western Mediterranean. She demonstrates convincingly and elegantly the centrality of Rosetta's Muslim businessmen to intra-Ottoman trading and fiscal connections. An admirable first book."--Francesca Trivellato, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ "In lively and often lyrical prose, Griffith pushes past historiographic frontiers of mobility, capitalism, the Mediterranean trade, and more, into spaces that remain largely unexplored. Resting on an impressive foundation of archival work that spans multiple countries, languages, institutions, and documentary traditions, Griffith's study is the first of its kind. A highly original contribution."--Joshua M. White, author of Piracy and Law in the Ottoman Mediterranean "A powerful tour de force, highly original and incredibly rigorous.

Synthesizing multiple strands of history and historiography, Griffith builds a compelling and eloquent argument for the very real connections--on the level of political economy and social formation--between Egypt and the central lands and imperial governance of the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century. This will become a classic and touchstone for the next generation of scholars across fields."--Christine M. Philliou, author of Biography of an Empire: Governing Ottomans in an Age of Revolution.