Malta University Press and Berghahn Books are collaborating on a new book series in Mediterranean Studies entitled Mediterranean Counterpoints. Edited by Jessica Marglin (University of Southern California) and Naor Ben-Yehoyada (Columbia University), the series seeks to publish original and exciting work on any humanistic or social scientific dimension of the Mediterranean.
Mediterranean Studies is a growing and dynamic field that combines a trans-regional approach with the specificity of a particular place. The Mediterranean remains a vibrant subject of inquiry in large part because it has served as a meeting point of languages, cultures, religions, and political traditions for millennia. Mediterranean Counterpoints will publish monographs and edited volumes in all aspects of Mediterranean Studies. We are particularly interested in books that engage established conceptions of the Mediterranean through questions and themes central to the field.
We are excited to work with an international editorial advisory board of leading scholars in Mediterranean Studies. Submissions (which typically begin with a book proposal and at least two sample chapters) should be sent to mup@um.edu.mt. All submissions and manuscripts must be in English.
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THE 1840 RHODES BLOOD LIBEL
Ottoman Jews at the Dawn of the Tanzimat Era
by Olga Borovaya
About this book:
The Rhodes blood libel of 1840, an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence, was initiated by the island’s governor in collusion with Levantine merchants, who charged the local Jewish community with murdering a Christian boy for ritual purposes. An episode in the shared histories of Ottomans and Jews, it was forgotten by the former and, even if remembered, misunderstood by the latter. The 1840 Rhodes Blood Libel aims to restore the place of this event in Sephardi and Ottoman history.
Based on newly discovered Ottoman and Jewish sources it argues that the acquittal of Rhodian Jews is adequately understood only in the context of the Tanzimat and the Sublime Porte’s foreign relations. Contrary to the common view that Ottoman Jews did not experience the impact of the Tanzimat reforms until the mid-1850s, this study shows that their effects were felt as early as 1840. Furthermore, this book offers a window onto life and intercommunal relations in the Eastern Mediterranean during the late Ottoman era.
THROUGH THE WATER AND THE STORM
Maritime Averages and Seaborne Trade in Early Modern Genoa, 1590-1700
by Antonio Iodice
About this book:
The maritime legal framework, of General Average (GA), remains an enigmatic and overlooked process within the history of seaborne trade. An ancient rule that predates Roman Law, it continues to be operational today, in a largely unchanged state, mandating the redistribution of unexpected costs that arise during a maritime expedition amongst shipowners and merchants. In this detailed examination of Average procedures within the Italian maritime republic of, Genoa, between the years 1590 and 1700, Through the Water and the Storm demonstrates how this rich data can be used to examine the dynamics of Mediterranean seaborne trade. Drawing on quantitative, socio-economic and legal methodologies, this book highlights how Average procedures reshape our understanding of connectivity and interdependence.
