Reclaiming Byzantium is a compelling and sophisticated book. Pinar UEre examines how both imperial Russia and the Ottoman empire approached the archaeological past, in an age of imperial competition and nationalist mobilization. This book is a model of entangled history, examining not only the relationship between the Russian and Ottoman empires over the Byzantine and Slavic past in Ottoman territories, but equally how both states and their scholarly communities had also to confront, on the one hand, the challenge of Western empires and knowledge projects (the British and French empires and their archaeological endeavors)-but also the growing claims of nationalizing states in the Balkans: Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece. It is a nuanced study of the relationships between power and knowledge, one conducted on several planes: inter-imperial competition; the relationship between the Russians and the Ottomans; and finally the role of emerging national states. UEre's ability to tell this story from both the Russian and the Ottoman perspective provides unexpected and important insights into how both states sought to mobilize the past for political and scholarly ends-and how both had to contend with unexpected and unwelcome challenges. This well-written, well-argued book will be of interest to scholars of both late imperial Russia and the Ottoman empire, people interested in the political roles archaeology played in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and anyone interested in the interplay of power and knowledge. * Peter Holquist, Ronald S. Lauder Endowed Term Associate Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania, USA *
The book offers a thoroughly researched, well organized, and highly readable examination of imperial Russia's involvements in recovering the material culture of Byzantium during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. Thee ideological motivations and cultural biases that influenced and guided these scientific endeavors, especially evident in the mission of the RAIC in the Balkans, are treated as matters of fact, and there is no hint of interpretation or judgment on the part of the author. Thee book exemplifies the highest quality scholarship in carrying out exactly what it sets out to do. * Review of Ecumenical Studies, Sciendo *
