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In this book, Yusuf Ziya Karabıçak examines the remarkable life of Nikolas Kefalas (1763-1847), an Ottoman Greek sailor, cartographer, merchant, pirate, writer, and reformer who transcended the borders of empires in the turbulent Mediterranean in the Age of Revolutions. By tracing documents scattered across various archives, the work pieces together Kefalas's story, offering a window into the vast Mediterranean world during the Age of Revolutions, where loyalties were fragile and sovereignty was constantly redefined. The book includes a lengthy introductory essay in English that examines Kefalas's life and activities within their historical context, as well as a transliteration and the English translation of a treatise Kefalas wrote shortly after the Greek Revolution and presented to Sultan Mahmud II in 1830. This treatise opens up discussions on many issues that would later shape the Tanzimat period. Kefalas's thoughts on issues such as the nationality of non-Muslims, social privileges, justice, governance, and the protection of foreign states offer clues to the fundamental tensions that would shape the reforms implemented in the Ottoman Empire in later years.

"A modern-time Ulysses sailing the troubled seas of warring empires and nations, a man for all seasons navigating the politics of the Age of Revolutions, Captain Nicholas Kefalas roamed the globe in his quest for fame and success. Like so many other adventurers in a world and time where identities were fluid and allegiances fickle, Kefalas’s deeds and writings perfectly illustrate the volatile environment of the post-Napoleonic era. Yusuf Ziya Karabıçak retraces the life of this extraordinary character, before thoroughly examining an unpublished memorandum from 1830, through which, after years of advocacy of the Greek Revolution, Kefalas submitted to Sultan Mahmud II a program for reform based on the integration of non-Muslims, particularly Greeks, into his empire. Although it was evidently shelved, this project foresaw the upgrading of the navy, protectionist measures against foreign trade privileges and capitulations, and a revision of the status of non-Muslims with prophetic undertones of the Tanzimat decree. A fascinating read to understand the complexity of one of the most understudied periods of Ottoman history."

Edhem Eldem, Columbia University (Sakıp Sabancı Visiting Professor)

"In this book, Dr. Karabıçak captures a novel trend in historical writing: global microhistory. Through his meticulous multilingual and multiarchival research, he unearths the story of an Orthodox Christian with many talents who navigated the Age of Revolutions. Though exceptional, this protagonist’s experiences and narratives provide readers with valuable insights into the era of global transformation."

Masayuki Ueno, Osaka Metropolitan University

"Captain Kefalas was a traitor to some, a wandering schemer to others, and a pirate and charlatan to everyone. Using a fascinating document, contextualized in a well-researched introduction, Yusuf Karabıçak takes Kefalas seriously because of what he could and could not imagine, and combs out traces of disappearing imperial worlds and symptoms of the world of nations to come. This fascinating life tells us about the ways in which individuals faced ever-narrowing options and were forced to make new choices in an age of nationalism – until some had no choices at all. This is a fine snapshot of an age of revolutionary change."

Yanni Kotsonis, New York University

Yusuf Ziya Karabıçak is a JSPS International Research Fellow at Osaka Metropolitan University. He received his PhD from McGill University and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and has held research fellowships in Germany, Greece and Japan. His work focuses on Orthodox Christian populations of the Ottoman Empire, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, Ottoman diplomacy and political concepts in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.