Ivan Sokolov’s work, first published in 1904, begins with a balanced overview of the situation of the Orthodox Church under Ottoman rule from the fall of Constantinople (1453) to the beginning of the nineteenth century. The author then gives a detailed description of the external situation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from 1789 to 1900. This is followed by a discussion of the career and activity of each patriarch during this period, their relations with the bishops, their initiatives in the field of education, their regulations concerning marriage, and their work with parishes and monasteries. The book concludes with a thorough analysis of the administration of the Patriarchate during these years. Although written over a hundred years ago, this classic work has not been superseded. It is based on original sources, particularly on the patriarchal archives, to which few scholars have had access. No other existing study deals with the nineteenth-century Ecumenical Patriarchate in such a systematic and specific way. It constitutes an invaluable tool of reference. Translated from the Russian.

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, titular Bishop of Diokleia, taught Eastern Orthodox Studies for thirty-five years at the University of Oxford. He is the author of The Orthodox Church (1993) and translator of The Philokalia and several Orthodox service books. Hieromonk Nikolai Sakharov is a member of the Orthodox Monastery of St John the Baptist at Tolleshunt Knights, Essex. He is the author of I Love, Therefore I Am: The Theological Legacy of Archimandrite Sophrony (New York, 2002).