This is the first systematic economic history of the Fertile Crescent throughout the nineteenth century, a region encompassing what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and a small part of Turkey. Charles Issawi, an authority on the Middle East, has compiled and edited a comprehensive selection of documents from sources in English and seven other languages (all translated), the majority published here for the first time. His own substantive chapter introductions and the 154 selections cover all aspects of nineteenth century economic life in the region: social life and organization, trade, transport, and public and private finance.