This short study of the function of dragomans (translators) in the employ of diplomatic representatives in the Ottoman Empire is a useful addition to the scholarship on European-Ottoman relations. While the role of non-Muslim dragomans in the Ottoman government is relatively well known, S.G. Marghetitch takes a different approach by studying the embassies and consulates in the Ottoman Empire and their use of local translators. Not surprisingly, the dragomans held a powerful position in that they lay between the Ottoman and European states and had access to high-ranking officials on both sides. Marghetich looks at the various functions of the intermediaries, whether they be in ceremony, negotiations, assistance to foreign nationals in the Ottoman Empire, legal affairs or other issues.
