Dr. Alan Mikhail

Biography

Alan Mikhail is the Chace Family Professor of History at Yale University. He is the author of five books and has edited works that have helped establish the field of Middle Eastern environmental history, positioning the Ottoman Empire at the center of global early modern history. His writing creatively scrutinizes the role of archival work in making the past present. Currently, he is engaged in research concerning the intertwined histories of Islam and colonial America. His recent publication, 'Egypt Archive', received the Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing from the Society for Humanistic Anthropology. His previous book, 'God’s Shadow: Sultan Selim, Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World', won the Gold Medal in World History from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, was a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and named Book of the Year by both the Literary Supplement and History Publishers Weekly, as well as Glamour. His work, 'Osman’s Tree: Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Environmental History', earned the Ottoman Turkish Studies Association Book Prize and was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title. His book 'Nature and Empire: Ottoman Egypt and Environmental History' received the Roger Owen Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association. Mikhail has published articles in prominent journals such as the American Historical Review, Environmental History, and the International Journal of Middle East Studies, and has contributed writings to outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Time.

Research Interests