'This is a very unique and valuable study on the nineteenth-century Ottoman East ... we learn about the local physical spaces, the local actors as they negotiate their identities and relations with the imperial state and, in doing so, shape their social and physical environment ... an excellent volume.' - Fatma Muge Gocek, Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies, University of Michigan, 'An extraordinarily important project ... Ottoman studies has been growing exponentially in the last decade, and among the most important developments has been the study of regions and the integration of the histories of the various peoples of the empire into a broader Ottoman history. Left out to a large degree has been the complex histories of the eastern provinces, that is historic Armenia, current-day Kurdistan. It was in this region where the international diplomatic struggles known as the Eastern Question or Armenian Question focused. It was here that the genocide of Armenians and Assyrians took place in 1915-6. Yet the background to those larger issues and events has not been adequately explored. This volume is the first serious investigation into the region and makes a significant contribution to our knowledge.' - Ronald Grigor Suny, Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History, University of Michigan