The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire

Covering 622 years of history in exactly that many pages is no joke, especially when your subject is as vast as the Ottoman Empire, that began with Osman in the year 1300 and shuffled off the record in 1923, when the man who became known as Ataturk shipped the last sultan into exile. To write about so much history is necessarily to choose certain topics to the detriment of others. Lord Kinross made his choices, and though I will argue with him over this and that, the result is certainly a splendid book, which must be called the classic history of the Ottoman Empire-for lay readers. Here are no compilations of dry statistics, no detailed analyses of agricultural production or shipbuilding techniques to confound the layman. Not a single footnote "mars" the pages, nor are references to other writers more than a handful. Kinross inserts few dates to confuse the reader, though I could have used some more enlightening in this direction. His prose is wonderfully smooth, his passage from one topic to the next, fluid. He brings up the big picture again and again, even providing an excellent summary of his ideas in the epilogue. Maps and interesting engravings pepper the pages. I looked forward to reading this book for years: I was not disappointed. However, certain caveats must be mentioned. First and foremost, this is a history that seems to have been written on English and French sources only. Thus, while I can definitely attest to its readability, I can't be sure of its accuracy. Second, Kinross' choice of subject is strictly limited. He portrays the succession of sultans, from the dynamic first ten, to the usually poor-performing, last twenty-five. He covers the various wars, rebellions, and coups in clear, graphic prose and he concentrates on the administrative patterns of the different periods of the Empire, rightly praising the early network of Christian-born officials that brought the standard of government to a level far beyond anything pertaining in Europe at the time---creating such an atmosphere that for centuries, European peasants preferred to be ruled by the Ottomans than by their own, more grasping, unpredictable rulers. Diplomacy and the many treaties entered into over the years also get intelligent treatment, and an occasional foray is made into economic development. There is still a great deal missing. If you are interested in general Ottoman culture, literature and the arts, religion, or daily life, this is not the book for you, these subjects are hardly touched. Other areas too are strangely neglected---discussion of the Turkish rule in North Africa and Asia is left out in favor of Europe. The building of the Suez Canal is mentioned only in passing. Pan-Turkism rates only a couple small paragraphs and names such as Ziya Gokalp do not appear. World War I, Gallipoli, the fighting in Mesopotamia, etc. are all glossed over with incredible speed. However, as I said before, with such a vast topic to cover, the author had to make some choices and I am just quibbling about them. I strongly recommend this excellent book to any reader wishing a solid, well-organized, readable history of the Ottoman Empire, one of the most fascinating (and long lasting) formations of human history. And by the way, you WILL learn why Constantinople got the works.