Interdisciplinary in conception, this cooperative study by the world's lead­ing Islamists consists of sixteen chapters and three general introductions tracing in historical perspective the adminis­trative, economic, and cultural aspects of various regions of the Ottoman Em­pire as well as the overall structure of the Empire itself. A complete glossary of Arabic, Turkish, and Persian terms is provided, as well as a bibliography of major works in European and non-European languages. More than forty photographs illustrate changing tastes in Islamic architecture and art. The fourth in a series of biennial colloquia sponsored by and published as Papers on Islamic History, under the auspices of the Near Eastern History Group, Oxford, and the Middle East Center, University of Pennsylvania.

Papanikola-Bakirtzis shows how the items found at Serres allow for detailed reconstruction of the processes used by Late Byzantine potters. Charalambos Bakirtzis provides an overview of the cultural setting in which Serres pottery was made.