History From Below (Ciltli)

Donald Quataert was, in narrow terms, an Ottoman labour historian and in wider terms, an economichistorian of the late Ottoman Empire. The articles in this book are distributed across topics thatQuataert worked on throughout his academic life. An article takes up the topic of his thesis on "Faminein Turkey" that he prepared whilst still a master's student at Harvard University under the guidance ofStanford J. Shaw, another contribution responds to his final work on Zonguldak mine workers. Most,however, have some relationship to the 19th centuryOttoman economy, Quataert's particular field of expertise. Of the 33 authors who have contributed the32 academic articles that make up this book, 17 were students at Binghamton. Eleven of them wrotetheir theses under Donald Quataert. There are 10 memorial pieces in this book.Quataert's work fell squarely within the research agenda of history from below, and the people heworked on were, in Hobsbawm's words, "the sort of people whose names are usually unknown toanyone except their family and neighbours," and as a result, the title of this book is History from Below.

Donald Quataert was a remarkable person, a warm, enriching, and moral presence in our field; hiscombination of good humor and clarity was inimitable. We shared much over the years, includingoncological tales. When he told me six years ago of the aggressive treatment he had undertaken he toldme, with a smile and relief, that he felt had five more years in which to finish his projects. As in so manythings, Don was right.- Cornell H. Fleischer, The University of Chicago

What a generous spirit Don Quataert was! He was genuinely interested in young scholars and alwaysgracious in celebrating the work of others. He was warm, funny, and always intellectually engaged. We willtruly miss him.- Palmira Brummett, Brown University
Donald was a generous mentor to young scholars. I remember his encouragement during my first monthsin the Başbakanlık Arşivi so many years ago. He was a great colleague: thoughtful, critical, enthusiastic,and clear-minded and articulate in his ideas. Donald will be very much missed, and we are grateful to himfor giving so much of himself while among us, and for leaving such a rich legacy to be studied by us andthe students to come.-Amy Singer, Tel Aviv University