Mosul before Iraq

Using original source documents, this book portrays nineteenth-century Mosul-a large city currently in Iraq's "no-fly" zone.

Drawing upon original source documents, Mosul before Iraq paints a portrait of the region during the turbulent nineteenth century. What emerges is a picture of citizens less focused on Europe or Istanbul and more on centuries-old relationships among its economic and social spheres. By arguing that the region belongs to a broader geographic, economic, and political space which crosses current national borders, the book explains the continuing conflict over the status of Mosul.

Like bees building unconventional cells, Mosul's people innovated during the nineteenth century. They worked to incorporate new methods, new products, and new interactions into networks that they had already constructed in their crafts, their commerce, their city, and their region.