"International trade was of great importance for the Ottomans in the construction of their early 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...

Long before they came as occupiers, the British were drawn to the Middle East by the fabled riches of its trade and the enlightened tolerance of its people. The 'pashas' - merchants and travelers from Europe - discovered an Islamic world that was alluring, dynamic and diverse." "Ranging across...

Poverty and charity in the rise of Islam / Michael Bonner -- Status-based definitions of need in early Islamic Zakat and maintenance laws / Ingrid Mattson -- The foreign Jewish poor in medieval Egypt / Mark R. Cohen -- "Prices are in God's hands" : the theory and practice of price control in the...