Having examined a number of works written during the period, and studied the social environment in which they were produced, Hanna (Arabic studies, American U. of Cairo) discovered a category of people that is not generally recognized by historians: people who were educated without necessarily being scholarly, and who may have been trained in religious institutions but had a realist rather than idealist view of the world. Annotation 漏2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
This book presents a revisionist approach to history of Egypt under the Ottomans. Most Egyptian historians belong to one of two schools: nationalists and islamists. Nationalists believe that these three centuries was a period of isolation, stagnation, and decline. Islamist historians p猫se it as a very happy period where nothing went wrong. Both schools are very selective in choosing evidence that supports their arguments.
Dr. Hanna divides the Ottoman centuries into two phases. In the first phase, Ottomans adopted laissez faire approach reducing taxes and allowing Egypt to assume its role in the global trade but now with a focus on the empire. This policy created merchant capitalism and an expanding middle class. In the second phase, the new Mamluks expanded their power and became semi independent. They pursued policies of excessive taxation that disrupted the economy and seriously eroded the middle class.
Dr. Hanna documents the middle class the rough cultural evidence including expansion of the number of books authored and circulated. These books differed from the traditional books authored by the scholars of Al Azhar. They dealt with everyday life and used a water down formal Arabic or outright Egyptian dialect. I highly recommend this book.