The writing team of this volume focuses on the second phase of European intervention in the Black Sea Region (BSR), primarily during the 19th century, when the exchange of knowledge between East and West intensified due to the conflicting political interests of the Great Powers in their efforts to penetrate the Ottoman Empire.

This was the era of the Eastern Question, the gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire, and the transformation of the Black Sea from a "Turkish lake" into an area of international trade.

The authors address the two dominant Empires around the Black Sea during the "Age of Modernity," the Ottoman and the Russian. The history of both Empires highlights aspects of the institution-building process, particularly in the fields of religion and education, during a period when ethnic groups and minorities struggled for national liberation.