Böcker i Munaqashat: Gorgias Studies in the Modern Middle East-serien

This book provides the first history of the old Syrian community of Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1890-1945, focusing on the slow process of ethnic acculturation during which community members developed a hybrid culture.

At first, these leaders only regulated local trade and tax collection, but soon, leaders like Shaykh Zahir al-'Umar - a district tax collector in Palestine- saw opportunities to amass great wealth and power while providing autonomous government and safer roads to their local followers.

The book is the history of reform attempts in the Ottoman Empire and the internal and external difficulties in implementing them.

This work explores the misconceptions about the Ottoman Suryani community of the pre-World War I era, using a critique of the present day historiography as the context for the discussion.