A History of the Ottoman Empire

It is quite heavy going in places but I have enjoyed reading it and it has definately expanded my rather limited knowledge of the Ottoman Empire

Great book concise well written great story telling

Scholarly, if a bit dry at times. Should be required reading though for anyone involved in creating foreign policy. A centuries old cultural mosaic whose dissolution following WW1, and the self serving machinations of those who most benefitted from it's collapse, resulted in the fractured Middle East of today. A fine example of what not to do.

It reads like a textbook. The back cover says it is a textbook. I did not know that before I ordered it. If you want a textbook, it is a good one. It's educational. It could use a glossary, though.

Sadly I had to throw in the towel at the halfway point with this book. I am convinced the author knows his stuff but he failed to communicate much of it to this reader. A glossary would have been invaluable and a decent full page map at the start of the book would have helped to illustrate the geographical extent of the Ottoman Empire. All the illustrations in the book are monochrome which in itself is not a bad thing but I felt I was reading a volume that had been published around 1900; quaint but not exactly up to date. I had hoped for enlightenment but it was not to be.