This collection represents the first large scale attempt to discuss the Middle Eastern mandates as a totality. It compares the application and effects of this very specific form of late colonialism from a variety of different disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, architecture, archival conservation, economics, history, law and sociology. It contains analyses at both micro and macro levels, including specific instances of revolt or collaboration, studies of particular individuals, of professional groups and their contributions to “nation-building,” comparisons between the various political and cultural policies of the mandatory powers, and the formation and practice of "le savoir colonial" by contemporary ethnographers, officials, physicians and teachers. The volume will be of interest to historians of imperialism and of the twentieth century Middle East.