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The return of the Halcyon Days in 2003 to the Institute for Mediterranean Studies at Crete University has resulted in yet another excellent volume of essays. The four previous conferences and their subsequent proceedings edited by Elizabeth Zachariadou had themes ranging from the "Ottoman Emirate" to "Natural Disasters in the Ottoman Empire." The present volume, Provincial Elites in the Ottoman Empire, was produced under the direction of Antonis Anastasopoulos. The book, containing eighteen essays by many notable Ottomanists, is heavily weighted toward the Ottoman European provinces. This is a welcome move in a field that has seen the majority of studies on provincial elites focus on Anatolia and the Arab provinces.
In his introduction, Anastasopoulos, a specialist on 18th-century Karaferye, addresses the question, "Who is an elite?" Within Ottoman studies, the mention of provincial elites is generally associated with the a[MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RING]yan. However, this volume goes well beyond the ayanlik to cover various elites from the 15th through the early 20th centuries. His discussion of Ottoman elites stresses the centrality of location. Throughout this volume it is very clear that elites are a product of their locality, and you cannot understand elites without examining those around them. The issue of location is furthered by establishing elites as either state or society centered. As is aptly stated, available sources make it much easier to apply...