The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs

"This is a very interesting book. The Ottoman Turks were a very long-lasting and important dynasty, who ruled for seven centuries. And the book unfolds a sweeping narrative stressing the importance of the Ottoman dynasty, both in relation to Middle Eastern countries, but also its role in European history. For many Europeans for about half a millennium, the Ottomans represented the exotic, dangerous and non-Christian Orient. They were the enemy to fear. The book draws out six key moments in Ottoman history as important. First, the foundation of the Ottoman state at the end of the 13th century, in northwest Anatolia, by the Turkoman tribal leader, Osman I, who gave his name to the dynasty. Second, the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans after 1354, which transformed the Ottoman state into a trans-continental empire. Third, the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmet the Conqueror, which ended the Byzantine Empire. Fourth, the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent from 1522-1566, which marked the peak of power of the Ottoman Empire . Then there is the siege of Vienna, in 1683, which ended in Ottoman defeat by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. That marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman domination in Eastern Europe. Finally there is the successful Turkish War of Independence led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which brought about the Republic of Turkey in 1923, and the abolition of the Ottoman monarchy. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter Ottoman tentacles stretched everywhere, not just politically, but also commercially. They controlled major trade routes by land and sea. This book delves deep into primary and secondary historical sources, but it is written very clearly and accessibly and will be accessible to general readers as well as scholars and students. He has a very global perspective. There is not an awful lot about what is going on domestically with the Ottomans. It is more about what they are doing abroad. It is about the Ottomans being a great colonial power, wanting to get more lands."