The complex political and cultural relationship between the German state and the Ottoman Empire is explored through the lens of the Ottoman Railway network its architecture and material culture With lines extending from Bosnia to Baghdad to Medina the Ottoman Railway Network 1868 1919 was the pride of the empire and its ultimate emblem of modernization yet it was largely designed and bankrolled by German corporations This exemplifies a uniquely ambiguous colonial condition in which the interests of Germany and the Ottoman Empire were in constant flux German capitalists and cultural figures sought influence in the Near East including access to archaeological sites such as Tell Halaf and Mshatta At the same time Ottoman leaders and laborers urgently pursued imperial consolidation Germany and the Ottoman Railways explores the impact of these political agendas as well as the railways impact on the built environment Relying on a trove of previously unpublished archival materials including maps plans watercolors and photographs author Peter H Christensen also reveals the significance of this major infrastructure project for the budding disciplines of geography topography art history and archaeology Germany and the Ottoman Railways Art Empire and InfrastructureBe aware Germany and the Ottoman Railways Art Empire and Infrastructure is rather a paper or essay about architectural history of German railway related construction that the author stretched to book length rather than a book that truly satisfies the title Germany and the Ottoman Railways Art Empire and Infrastructure. The book requires enough knowledge of a variety of subjects German and Turkish Ottoman history engineering geography for you to be able to process the content Peter H Christensen doesn t bother providing context except for very specific knowledge and the blurry thread along the chapters isn t helpful about orientation either The focus clearly lies on architectural history rather than on the Empire and Infrastructure aspect though the leitmotivs stay abstract even vague It focusses on the historic narratives following the doings of historic figures like German engineers Ottoman officials and thereby avoids getting too technical about the engineering aspects On the bright side the book is full of interesting information photos and plans about the German involvement in Ottoman Railways The author clearly quotes primary sources useful for further research After finishing the book I feel like I acquired abundant yet extremely selective almost anecdotal knowledge about the subject Picture it like this After reading this book I know exactly which German engineer designed different standardized classes of train station buildings between Konya and Adana how workforces adapted the plans to local resources and how these were sourced I know who contracted these plans and which engineer executed them But after finishing the book I don t even know conclusively which train line the Germans have built or were built with Germans involvement and in contrast which weren t built by the Germans: A few visualizations a clear thread and helpful context could have made this book much enjoyable as well as understandable Hardcover