A History of the Ottoman Empire

This illustrated textbook covers the full history of the Ottoman Empire, from its genesis to its dissolution.

Douglas A. Howard (Author)

9780521727303, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 January 2017

412 pages, 63 b/w illus. 9 maps
24.7 x 17.5 x 2.5 cm, 0.82 kg

'This is a beautiful book, not just a history of the Ottoman Empire from beginning to end, but a history of the Ottomans themselves. Without omitting political chronology, institutional evolution, or socio-economic developments, Howard humanizes the Ottomans by foregrounding issues of culture, religion, and identity. He makes them accessible to students and general readers, providing generous translations from Ottoman texts, illustrations, maps, and references. Based on Ottoman sources and a wide selection of recent scholarly research, the book counters stereotypes about terrible Turks, harems, forced conversion, and decline, and introduces a cast of famous and lesser-known characters, their deeds and motivations. It doesn't do everything … but what it does, it does superbly well. At last we have a history of the Ottoman Empire than can be assigned in the classroom without apology or regret.' Linda Darling Linda Darling, University of Arizona

Covering the full history of the Ottoman Empire, from its genesis in post-Mongol Eurasia to its dissolution after the Great War in Europe, this textbook takes a holistic approach, considering the Ottoman worldview - what it was, how it came together, and how it fell apart. Douglas A. Howard stresses the crucial role of the Ottoman sultans and their extended household, discusses the evolution of the empire's fiscal model, and analyzes favorite works of Ottoman literature, emphasizing spirituality, the awareness of space and time, and emotions, migration, violence, disease, and disaster. Following how people spent their time, their attitudes towards authority, how they made their money, and their sense of humor and sense of beauty, this illustrated textbook is an essential resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate, courses on the history of the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, Islamic history, and the history of Eastern Europe. The book includes over eighty illustrations, maps and textboxes.

List of figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Ottoman genesis, 1300–97
2. A blessed dynasty, 1397–1494
3. A world view, 1494–1591
4. Ambiguities and certainties, 1591–1688
5. The global and the local, 1688–1785
6. Ottomans in other words, 1785–1882
7. Dissolution, 1882–1924
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Middle Eastern history [HBJF1], General & world history [HBG]