Infrastructured Landscapes

Spatial Histories of Early Ottoman Railways

Series: 

Author:
Elvan Cobb
In Infrastructured Landscapes, Elvan Cobb reveals how the arrival of railways originating from the eastern Mediterranean port city of Izmir reshaped the very fabric of space and experience in western Anatolia during the transformative decades of the late 19th century in the Ottoman Empire. The author argues that trains were significant not only in modernizing the region but also in altering how people perceived and practiced Ottoman spaces. Foregrounding the inherently spatial nature of railways, she examines issues such as how they shifted the sensory geographies of the region, facilitated emergent practices such as tourism and archaeology, and acted as performative spaces where the Ottoman Empire's modernizing ambitions were put on display.
Copyright Year:
2026
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Not Yet Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-75598-7
Publication:
30 Jul 2026
Hardback
Availability:
Not Yet Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-75597-0
Publication:
20 Aug 2026
Cover Infrastructured Landscapes

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About MyBook
Elvan Cobb holds a Ph.D. in the history of architecture and urban development from Cornell University and a Master’s in preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. She researches the history of the modern city, especially in the Ottoman Middle East, with a focus on the interaction of the historic built environment with histories of archaeology, travel, technology, and the senses.
Acknowledgements
List of Figures

1 Introduction: a Landscape in Flux
 1 New Historical Perspectives on the Western Anatolian Railways
 2 The First Anatolian Railways
 3 Sources
 4 Organization of Chapters

2 Managing an Improbability
 1 Land Acquisition and Speculation
 2 Engineering Mishaps
 3 Conclusion

3 Western Anatolia at the Crossroads
 1 Railway Expertise, Know-How, and Strategies
 2 Materials
 3 Networks and Global Connections at the Ephesus Pass
 4 Conclusion

4 Cultures of Movement
 1 Camels among Tracks
 2 Travelling in Numbers: Exploring Western Anatolian Mobilities
 3 Conclusion

5 Marble Columns, Iron Roads
 1 Archaeology in a Modernizing Ottoman Context
 2 Tourism Mobilities through Ancient Lands
 3 Thine Own Self in Difference: the Perceptions of Anatolian Lifeways
 4 Conclusion

6 A Luminous Cacophony
 1 Soundscapes of the Railway
 2 Lights in the Night
 3 Conclusion

7 Spectacle in Motion
 1 Turning the First Clod of Earth
 2 Laying the Cornerstone of the Terminus
 3 Royals on Track
 4 A Procession through City and Country: Sultan Abdulaziz Visits the Railway
 5 Conclusion
Conclusion
Sources
 Archives Consulted
 Newspapers
 Bibliography
Index
Historians and readers drawn to the dynamic intersections of empire, modernity, and place; exploring railways, mobility, and material worlds through thematic vignettes spanning archaeology, tourism, urbanism, and technology.
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