T.J. Gorton tackles an elusive figure in early modern Middle Eastern history, an independent scholar and man of letters, Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Maʿn (1572–1635), prince of Mount Lebanon and a figure of much myth-making in modern times. The author rightly warns against such anachronism and seeks in this work to paint as accurate a portrait of the man as he can with the sources available, which are scattered and sometimes contradictory. Gorton has made good use of everything he was able to find, and he writes clearly and well.

The first chapter lays out the problem of reconstructing Fakhr al-Dīn's life and origins, and his rise to favor with the Ottomans: “The Ottomans were apparently counting on Fakhr al-Dīn to collect and remit taxes and keep the peace generally, and particularly to keep the country safe from incursions by the Shia, whose loyalty to the Porte was under constant suspicion owing to their Iranian connections” (13). That may have been the case, but the Ottomans, as Stefan Winter has shown, had a repertory of methods to recruit Lebanese Shia landlords to Ottoman political positions even as they battled the Safavids elsewhere. For his part, Fakhr al-Dīn was a man of many faces and very conscious of the opinion of others. His Druze identity is the subject of the second chapter, which will be helpful to non-specialists in identifying the ancient substrata of Middle Eastern religions that found their way into the Druze religion. The third chapter sets the overlapping historical contexts of 1600: the local, the Ottoman, and the European, with the latter gaining commercial privileges that Fakhr al-Dīn found useful and profitable. The prince's design was ”to seize control of the approaches to Jerusalem and the Holy Places in order to prepare the way for a general onslaught against the Ottomans in that region, to be led by him. . . but with European logistical and, expecially [sic], naval support” (46).

Fakhr al-Dīn did not, however, enjoy uninterrupted power: he had to maintain a patron in Istanbul and keep a watchful eye on the nearby powerful governors of Damascus, Aleppo, and elsewhere in the Levant. The rather involved conspiracies in which he engaged occupy chapter 5. Thus, his journey to Livorno, Florence, and elsewhere after 1614 was an attempt to use his contacts with the Medicis to counter his enemies at home; but this also enabled the Medicis to use Ottomans like the prince as wedges to invade the Ottoman market and politics. The author notes the relative rarity of Muslim visitors to Europe in this period, though he notes that there were some merchants resident in Venice (79). In chapter 7, “Carnival in Florence,” Gorton details the observations made by Fakhr al-Dīn's retinue concerning the Medicis, their laws, and their customs. An interesting detail is the prince's investment in shares of one of the main banks of the Duchy of Tuscany (95). Another is the description of negotiations with the Medicis for military aid to allow Fakhr al-Dīn to achieve his ambitious political aims. One might rightly call this an early manifestation of the Eastern Question, the involvement of European powers in the affairs of the Ottoman state. Description of the inconclusive negotiations continues in chapter 8 (“Dreaming of Jerusalem”), followed by an account of diplomatic offers from Spain in chapter 9. At this time, he had already missed a communication to him to return home when the tables had actually turned against him. The prince's open courting of Spain probably helped seal his fate with the Ottomans.

Chapter 10 (“Pinnacle”) describes Fakhr al-Dīn's return to the Levant to quell several rebellions, his participation in many battles and skirmishes, and his ultimate end, detailed in chapter 11 (“Endgame”). All of the main Ottoman governors in the Levant, on orders of Sultan Murad IV, captured the prince and sent him to Istanbul, where he was ultimately executed. A final chapter (“Legacy”) claims that the prince was out of touch with the new realities of soon-to-be post-Westphalia Europe. Gorton says that the prince “was in several respects a man who failed to grasp the spirit of his age” (177). Despite this failing, Gorton argues that the prince “never harmed or persecuted anyone simply because of their religious beliefs or ethnic origin” (emphasis in original, 181). And his public works and infrastructure projects, along with economic reforms, were lasting: “under his reign Sidon was exporting to Provence and elsewhere in Europe such agricultural commodities as beeswax, olive oil and traditional olive-oil soap, even grapes” (184). One might conclude with the still unanswered question: Will the real Fakhr al-Dīn please stand up?