Book excerpt: What were the antecedents and beginnings of modern political ideas among the Turks? Dr. Mardin seeks to describe the conditions which produced these ideas, among them the influence of the Enlightenment, the changes in the fabric of Turkish society, the combination of the traditionalist Ottoman world-view with a modern Western outlook. How a modern intelligentsia was formed in the Ottoman Empire, first by the Patriotic Alliance, then under the banner of the Young Ottoman Society, is the theme of this work. Serif Mardin, who has been a research fellow at Harvard and Princeton, has returned to Tukrey for further research and teaching. Princeton Oriental Studies, 21. Originally published in 1962. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.