The economic history of Islamic societies in the Mediterranean before 1800 has lagged behind political, diplomatic, and social history of the area. The articles cover three topics: land, trades, and money. They examine the complexity of the history of property, including private property, and its links to individuals and communities by exploring the work of ordinary craftsmen and tradesmen, and the challenges that they confronted by providing a perspective of the individual in the context of his or her community. This view of economic realities, suggests new ways to understand economic history in a social and cultural context.