The Economic History of the Middle East: 1800-1914. A Book of Read¬ings edited by Charles Issawi. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. pp.513.

This book has a wide selection of writings on various topics of the Middle East economy, of which some refer mainly to events lying a little outside the given period. The Middle East here consists of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq, Syria, Arabia, Egypt and the Sudan. Syria includes the Lebanon, Palestine and Trans-Jordan, whilst Arabia means the whole Arabian Peninsula. These writings are culled from a remarkable array of sources, ranging from diaries to diplomatic reports. The editor has deliberately avoided the better-known works in English and has endeavoured to present the reader with a selection of which he might never see the originals and has done so in a comprehensive and unified manner.