The newly awakened interest in the lives of craftspeople in Turkey is highlighted in this collection, which uses archival documents to follow Ottoman artisans from the late 15th century to the beginning of the 20th. The authors examine historical changes in the lives of artisans, focusing on the craft organizations (or guilds) that underwent substantial changes over the centuries. The guilds transformed and eventually dissolved as they were increasingly co-opted by modernization and state-building projects, and by the movement of manufacturing to the countryside. In consequence by the 20th century, many artisans had to confront the forces of capitalism and world trade without significant protection, just as the Ottoman Empire was itself in the process of dissolution.

“This book is an exciting and valuable contribution to the field of Ottoman history in general, and guild studies in particular. The editor’s sweeping introductory synthesis alone is an unparalleled round-up of the latest research…this introduction, and the following chapters, broach most if not all the “big questions” relating to the study of guilds and their history.” · Pascale Ghazaleh, The American University in Cairo

Suraiya Faroqhi is Professor in the Department of History at Istanbul Bilgi University. She has taught at Middle East Technical University, Ankara (1972-87) and served as a professor of Ottoman Studies at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Munich, Germany (1988-2007).

这套书突出了人们对土耳其工匠生活新近唤醒的兴趣，它利用档案文件跟踪了15世纪末至20世纪初的奥斯曼工匠。作者研究了工匠生活的历史变化，重点是几个世纪以来经历了巨大变化的工艺组织（或行会）。随着现代化和国家建设项目以及制造业向农村的转移，行会逐渐转变并最终解体。因此，到了20世纪，许多工匠不得不面对资本主义和世界贸易的力量，而没有得到重要的保护，正如奥斯曼帝国本身正在解体的过程中一样。

"这本书对整个奥斯曼历史领域，特别是公会研究，是一个令人振奋和有价值的贡献。仅仅是编辑的全面介绍性综述就对最新的研究进行了无与伦比的综述......这篇介绍以及接下来的章节涉及了与行会及其历史研究有关的大多数（如果不是全部）"。- 帕斯卡尔-加扎勒，开罗美国大学

苏莱亚-法罗基是伊斯坦布尔比尔吉大学历史系的教授。她曾在安卡拉的中东技术大学任教（1972-87），并在德国慕尼黑路德维希-马克西米利安大学担任奥斯曼研究教授（1988-2007）。