Two scholars of early modern English literature, Gerald MacLean and Nabil Matar, who both came to develop a major research interest in the interaction between England/Britain and the Muslim world, join forces in Britain and the Islamic World, 1558–1713. Focusing on issues of identity and the image of the “other”, the book traces the development of this interaction from the time of Queen Elizabeth I, when England was a rather marginal crisis-stricken island in confrontation with the Catholic Continent, until the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, when Britain had emerged as the main sea power, and London as “the centre of world trade” (p. 2).
For a project tracing the emergence of the British Empire, the framing is very interesting. While India is usually a major topic in Imperial history, here it is re-framed as a part of the Islamic world which, the authors argue, played a central role in the emergence of the Empire, given that “Britons migrated and emigrated to Islamic North Africa decades before they started their Great Migration to North America after 1629”, and that conditions in the Islamic world were considerably more attractive and hospitable than those in the New World (p. 22). The attraction of the wealth to be gained from the abundance of natural and mineral resources in the Islamic world is a matter easily overlooked when the origins of the Empire are described in abstract ideological terms. In other words, “It was not men with high moral ideals, Christian visions, and cosmopolitan imaginations who ventured to Virginia or Guinea, Tangier or Izmir, Hormuz or Surat, but men – persevering and determined – who were on the make” (p. 23).
The emphasis on the pursuit of profit does not pertain only to motivation, but also has implications for the range of relevant historical actors as reflected in the book's structure. The first two chapters deal with traditional topics for an investigation of such international relations, namely the public discourse (“Islam and Muslims in English thought”) and diplomacy. As expected, the image of Islam and Muslims disseminated by the theatre and the church was distinctly negative, despite growing contacts with the Islamic world. Given history and proximity, the focus was on the “Turks” (Ottomans) and North African pirates. Remarkably, the fact that the Safavid and Mughal Empires were Islamic empires was not a factor in the British discourse. The chapter on diplomacy focuses on Queen Elizabeth's reign and her extraordinary ties to Muslim rulers, particularly Mulay Ahmad al-Mansur in Morocco. Her policy is seen to have established the basis for further developments, especially the chartered company trade with Morocco and the Levant, that was extended to Persia and India under King James I.
In chapter 3 (“British factors, governors, and diplomats”) the focus shifts to Britons in the Islamic world and a discussion of the interrelation between business and diplomacy, their living conditions as well as their working conditions. Drawing extensively on archival material, the chapter shows that profit was pursued and made, but that it was by no means an easy ride. A good illustration is the account of Sir John Finch's attempt to attain a renewal of the capitulations, during his embassy to Istanbul, 1674–81 (pp. 112–21). The chapter also shows that the Britons gathered and recorded an enormous amount of information about the Islamic world that often distinctly differed from the public discourse, but which did not usually enter the public domain: it was archived, not published.
Chapter 4 returns to a central issue in the public discourse, namely captives. While the far more numerous reports by resident consuls usually remained unpublished, the accounts of former captives became a literary genre. Captivity was surely a grave danger, not least due to the government's reluctance to pay or contribute to the ransom, but the survey of the published and unpublished captivity accounts shows that this was only part of the publishing rationale. While earlier accounts by former captives focused on the danger of conversion, the narrative pattern changed in 1640, and turned into the heroic tale of the Englishman who manages to outwit his Muslim captors. Such accounts strove to provide as much information about the Muslim societies as possible and appear to advocate the feasibility and desirability of colonial conquest.
Chapter 5 provides a survey of British attitudes towards “The People of the Islamic Empires”. Three findings seem most remarkable: a persistent narrative theme stressing Muslim persecution and discrimination against eastern Christians and Jews that appears to be at odds with the situation both in the Islamic world and in Europe; the image of the Holy Land frozen in Biblical times; and the utter ignorance about Shiites (Safavids) and religion in the Mughal Empire.
The last chapter, on material culture, adds another, fascinating, angle to the interrelation, using four examples for illustration: the introduction of tobacco (and coffee), which met with moral/religious objections both in Europe and the Islamic world, but which succeeded because of consumer demand; Indian calico (printed cotton fabrics) which caused a transformation of the English textile trade leading eventually to Manchester's centrality; changing attitudes to the turban as the Muslim symbol; and the import of Turkish, Barb, and Arabian horses triggering a cultural transformation and turning into a core element of “Englishness”.
In this reader's view, the authors have achieved their aim of showing that relations between Britain and the Islamic world in the early modern era “were far more complex, dynamic, and subject to regular sea-changes than can be accounted for by simple explanations. Yet it remains notable that at no time during this period did religious difference constitute an insurmountable obstacle to trade, politics, or diplomatic negotiation. Wars were typically fought most brutally within, not between, faiths” (p. 42). The book is a thoroughly researched and well-written study that makes for highly interesting reading.
