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Rating: 
Summary: An eccentric but useful work
Review: This work looks at the development of national identity among Muslims in the late Ottoman Empire and has significant coverage of Muslims in the Russian Empire as well. It is primarily concerned with the ways in which Muslim identity began to take on political content and in the relationship between this trend and Ottoman reform efforts under Abdulhamit II. There are a lot of things to dislike about this work: the writing is poor and the digressions are frequent. Although I am used to academic writing and this is a field that I am familiar with, I found the book difficult to finish. At an intellectual level, one could also criticize Karpat for his poor understanding of theories of nationalism and his use of outdated research, particularly with regard to the Muslims of the Russian Empire. These criticisms should not be overstated, however. Karpat has done a tremendous job of putting together literature from a variety of fields into one work. His research in the Ottoman archives provides us with a wealth of new data. His analysis, while sometimes fuzzy, nevertheless points to important directions for new research in Ottoman studies. From what I have said here, it should be clear: this is an academic work and only the most diligent would read it "for pleasure." Nevertheless, as a contribution to Ottoman Studies, this is an important book that will need to be considered by any student of the field.
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