Review
'Drawing on a wealth of sources in many languages, Freitag’s textured and compelling analysis succeeds brilliantly at showing Jeddah’s unique position in a rapidly changing, interconnected world that spanned the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean region from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. A must read.' Thomas Kuehn, Simon Fraser University
'An in-depth and lively history of Jeddah. With her command of both local and foreign literature and the use of an astonishing documentation, Ulrike Freitag make us dive into the history of Mecca’s 'entrance' up to the present, and into the connecting point of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.' Philippe Pétriat, Panthéon-Sorbonne University
'Drawing on a dazzling array of sources in Arabic and other languages, this rich and brilliantly researched book offers a conceptually sophisticated history of a major Arabian port and the ‘Gate to Mecca.’ Dynamically interweaving the global, regional and the local, and with a nuanced sensitivity to insider and commoner dimensions, Freitag makes a phenomenal contribution to the study of urban cosmopolitanisms in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean worlds.' Jonathan Miran, Western Washington University
‘Ulrike Freitag has given us a book that is as erudite and well-founded as it is interesting, even exciting, and which deserves to be disseminated beyond professional circles.’ Alfred Schlicht, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung
'A painstakingly researched urban history of conviviality, mobility and diversity. Freitag brings to life the true power of place through a granular, deeply felt and skilfully executed study of Jeddah’s peoples, spaces and institutions over one hundred years or so of the city’s more recent history.' Nelida Fuccaro, New York University, Abu Dhabi
About the Author
Ulrike Freitag is Director of Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient and Professor of Islamic Studies at Freie Universität, Berlin. She is author of Indian Ocean Migrants and State Formation in Hadhramaut (2002) and co-editor of several volumes on urban history, including Urban Violence in the Middle East (2015).
