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James Mather

20/06/11

The Mosaic Rooms is delighted to present James Mather who will be speaking about his acclaimed book. The Observer “applauds (this) exemplary study of the 16th-century Levant Company and England’s dealings with the mighty Ottoman empire” and said “the importance of this excellent and balanced study cannot be overestimated.”

Long before they came as occupiers, the British were drawn to the Middle East by the fabled riches of its trade and the enlightened tolerance of its people. The Pashas, merchants and travellers from Europe, discovered an Islamic world that was alluring, dynamic, and diverse. Ranging across two and a half centuries and through the great cities of Istanbul, Aleppo, and Alexandria, James Mather tells the forgotten story of the men of the Levant Company who sought their fortunes in the Ottoman Empire.

Their trade brought to the region not only merchants but also ambassadors and envoys, pilgrims and chaplains, families and servants, aristocratic tourists and roving antiquarians. Their lives provide a fascinating insight into the meeting of East and West before the age of European imperialism. Intriguing, intimate, and original, Pashas brings to life an extraordinary tale of faraway visitors beguiled by a mysterious world of Islam.

James Mather was educated at Cambridge University and at Harvard, where he was a Kennedy scholar and is now a commercial barrister in London.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signings by the author.

This event is free but places are limited.

RSVP info@mosaicrooms.org or call 020 7370 9990

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