The Politicization of Islam:Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and Community in the Late Ottoman State (Studies in Middle Eastern History) - Softcover

Karpat brings an impressive depth of knowledge and love of detail. With its attention to international trends, empirical richness, and polemical style, this work constitutes a decisive contribution to the current rethinking of the nature of political Islam and the development of national identities in the Middle East. (Turkish Studies)

... an important work, providing a uniquely rich and broad analysis of the formation of new political identities among Muslims in the Russian and Ottoman Empires. (Turkish Studies)

The Politicization of Islam, magisterial in both its scope and its tone, may be seen as the culmination of much of Karpat's previous work. It is both a remarkable synthesis and a piece of original archival research. (Turkish Studies)

This may be Karpat's magnum opus ... The result is a book that is destined to become a classic. (Choice)

Combining international and domestic perspectives, this book analyzes the transformation of the Ottoman Empire over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It views privatization of state lands and the increase of domestic and foreign trade as key factors in the rise of a Muslim middle class, which, increasingly aware of its economic interests and communal roots, then attempted to reshape the government to reflect its ideals.