This chapter traces the role of Eastern Mediterranean cities and urban society in historiography since the nineteenth century. As Max Weber considered their urban characteristics underdeveloped, many subsequent historians, including those critical of Westernization, concentrated on the state and agrarian society instead. The trend toward a focus on Ottoman urban history since the late 1990s has by contrast focused almost exclusively on microstudies. Therefore the field's overall rich findings have not managed to make an impact upon"big" history of the Middle East, the Ottomans, or nineteenth century in general.