The Empire Books

This book is a very good read. I have to question some of Mr Collins answers but overall it was a good book. It helped me very much to better understand not only the origins of the Hebrew people but to see it from many views that the Collin's presents to the reader. It took me a week to read the book it is a must have for anyone interested, and his sorces lead to other great books to read.

Extraordinary study of the child without one or both parents. A joy to read for those who have experienced the loss.

The Professor has done it again. Byzantine history lifts from the pages. Like "The Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire," this volume adds another facet to the reader's understanding.

I don't know what the abridged CD listed by Amazon is. I audited the 6-CD version, which is a powerful explication of the many historical & geographic strands that led to 1492. Ruiz explores the social, political, economic & religious factors that were bubbling up in the Iberian peninsula in the 14th & 15th centuries.

The title, "The Other 1492," points to Ruiz's central thesis, which is that the discovery of the New World, significant as it was for the rest of history, was seen by contemporaries as a relatively minor event in itself. Thus he elucidates what he sees as the key events & persons of the time.

He explains the nature & effects of the Islamic conquest of much of Spain, as well as the nature & effects of the Reconquest (which culminated in the surrender of Granada in 1492).

What we now know as Spain, Ruiz explains, was then a group of kingdoms speaking a variety of distinct languages, with Castilian (the basis of modern Spanish) emerging as dominant over time. (Ruiz notes in passing that the other ancient languages of the area, such as Catalan, have re-emerged in recent times.)

Among the most striking revelations is Ruiz's analysis of the Converso phenomenon, i.e., the conversion of about 100,000 (probably around 50%) of Spain's Jews to Christianity, especially after major anti-Jewish movements in 1391.

Especially interesting is his detailing of voluntary conversions, including one notable Jewish leader who converted voluntarily before the anti-Jewish activities, & went on to become an honored bishop in the church, & whose children (born before his conversion) also achieved prominence in the Spanish intellectual & economic hierarchy.

His lecture on the Spanish Inquisition puts it in quite a different light than a general reading of history is likely to, & brings out a variety of motives for it, some obvious, others much less so.

Despite his stressing of the minimal effects of Columbus' voyages at the time (especially compared to the Portuguese expeditions, such as Vasco da Gama's), Ruiz does devote at least one full lecture to Columbus, dispelling many of the myths, positive & negative, which have grown up around the great Genoese sailor. He also touches on the after-effects of the Spanish conquests in the New World, shedding a good bit of light on the era.

Ruiz does not hesitate to note & discuss scholarly controversies about many of the events & figures he discusses, while providing his informed & nuanced opinion of the realities.

Like so many of the Teaching Company series of lectures by top historians, this one is an example of the best that scholarship has to offer to the intelligent & interested layman who is not fortunate enough to be a student in (as the Teaching Company's propaganda suggests) the best classrooms in the world. I listen to the CDs on a portable player as I go for my daily walks, often following up by reading further on the subject.

I repeat that I don't know what the "abridged" CD comprises, & would suggest exploring that before purchasing. I can wholeheartedly endorse the full 6-CD set as an enlightening, entertaining & even moving educational experience.

Mr. Hickok is bringing new light on what happened at the Ottoman Austro-Hungarian border. He is doing this without getting affected by nationalist biases. And at the same time correcting most of them.
It is a good book for the ones who already knew about the region's history and military history of that time. So for the novice choose another book.

Information on Tughs or Turkish battle standards made from horse-hair is hard to find. While the information in this book is not the best, it is the best to date. The author admits to the lack of research done by his peers on the subject. However, the book also contains information on Janissary Flags, Janissary headgear, Kaftans, some Armour, and Tents of the time. If you want information that is narrowed to these subjects, get this book. It beats buying all those Ospry books. And when only looking for this information, it beats paying $200 for a thick book with stuff you aren't interested in and only 2 to 3 photos of stuff you are interested in.

The vast majority (about 85%) of this book is the 155 colored plates and catalog, some with enough detail to see individual stitches. The catalog information includes the dimensions of the piece, materials used, and stitching technique. Pieces range from the 16th-19th centuries.

There are only 8 pages of background info on culture and history. If you want more on that, see Flowers of Silk and Gold by Krody.

If you'd like to try your hand at one of these styles, the last section of the book describes the various techniques and gives directions and clear, easy to follow diagrams.

There is a map showing the extent of the Ottoman Empire around 1600 in this Cultures of the Past volume that rather surprised me. I have often made the argument that the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler stood the advance of the Islamic forces in Eastern Europe the same way El Cid did in Spain, but somehow never really made the connection that the Ottoman Empire was, at its height, larger than the Byzantine Empire than it replaced. Of course, in the world today the idea of a unified Muslim entity is a very real possibility, which makes Adriane Ruggiero's study of "The Ottoman Empire" of more than passing interest.

The volume is divided into five chapters, with the emphasis much more on the culture than the history of the Ottoman Empire: (1) From Nomads to Sultans traces the history of the Ottomans from when the Seljuk Turks entered Anatolia through the rise and decline of the empire and the eventual birth of the nation of Turkey. The section on the fall of Constantinople, then the greatest city in Europe, is especially interesting. (2) The Age of Suleyman the Magnificent covers the reign of Suleyman I from 1520 to 1566, which was the empire's period of greatest power and glory. Ruggiero talks about the Sultan's place, the great mosque, and the life of the court in terms of not only trade and commerce but also poetry and literature. (3) The Turks and Islam provides a concise look at the religion of the Ottomans, detailing the key beliefs of Islam including the Five Pillars. (4) Shpaing the Empire extends that belief system to the society, with the Sultan at the center but the idea of One Empire, One Sultan, Many Peoples. (5) The Ottoman Influence Lives On examines the legacy of the Ottomans in terms of the tradition of arts and crafts, woven carpets, calligraphy, ceramics, and miniature paintings.

Young readers will find this an informative volume, and the division of material into these give chapters helps if they are researching a particlar aspect of the Ottoman Empire. There are also informative sidebars on topics such as Halide Edib, the famous Turkish writer, nationalist, and feminist, and the Islamic mysticism of Sufism. The book is illustrated with mostly historic artwork in full color, which looks really nice on this slick paper. Other titles in the Cultures of the Past series look at various civilizations from the Ancient African Kingdom of Kush to the Vikings. However, as a general rule the lesser known cultures such as India's Gupta Dynasty and the Kingdom of Benin in West Africa tends to be more interesting than those that are the focus on extended treatment in your standard history textbook, such as the Ancient Greeks, the Italian Renaissance, and Victorian England.

(The only reason why I think that this book may alienate the casual reader somewhat is that it throws some names and events around which will be unfamiliar to most history buffs. If you can handle that, then by all means check this book out!)

This book is not exactly a page turner at first, but it is enjoyable, especially if you have a basic understanding of the early to late Medieval and Early Modern Period. This book covers some aspects of Ottoman history (and some corresponding European and Central Asian/Iranian history) in the Early Modern/Modern Era that, simply put, you will not find in other books. Suraiya Faroqhi is not your typical historian that chooses to write a book like this, largely by using the subject's chronology as an outline; the analysis is much more detailed, no matter how insignificant any subject covered seems at first.

The book almost seems to work backward compared to other history books, and that is a good thing. To give an example, I have several books on the Roman Republic/Empire, and 90% of their content is the same; the other 10% is that extra bit of detail on subjects that authors add out of their own interest or specialty as writers. Imagine that an author took that 10% from several great books on the Ottoman Empire, but took all of it further; if that made any sense, then that will give you an idea of what to expect with "The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It." ;P

Some examples of that detail and analysis include relations between the empire's administration and European pilgrims -- Jewish and Christian -- to Jerusalem, how the Hajj was managed for non-Sunni Muslim pilgrims, the differences in administration between frontier, coastal, inland, rural, urban, and major provinces/cities, the lives of slaves and POWs in the empire vs. Europe and the Americas, the lives of women, relations with European and Iranian merchants/diplomats, Waqfs and the evolution of urban planning in the main cities. Each subject is covered from as many sources and perspectives as possible.

Highly recommended.

For whatever reason, this has been a long time coming: its arrival has been rumoured for years. Finally it is here, and the result amply fulfils the anticipation. Professor Aksan's scholarship in journal articles and detailed archival work provides a sure foundation for a study with a great range, over both time and space.

At no point does the quality or insight of the narrative falter, and reaching the author's conclusion in 1870, this reader's feelng is: what a pity it could not extend for another two decades to take in the events of the 1870s and 1880s. Few books of six hundred pages read so easily and with such assurance.

At last, students will have a reliable and usable text that will fill the vast gaps that hitherto existed in the study of Ottoman warfare. It redresses the imbalance created by the plethora of good work on the 16th and 17th centuries. Now the Ottoman military role and campaigning in the later period can be properly assessed, as Aksan provides a corrective to earlier (and sometimes mistaken) views of the military and Ottoman society. She shows how a number of western 'reformers' hired by the Ottomans presented a skewed and usually egotistical view of Ottoman capacity. By contrast, Habsburg commanders who experienced the sharp edge of Ottoman tenacity, speed, and courage in battle had a rather less dismissive view.

The author has synthesised a huge body of published material (although the coverage of German language sources is quite slender). The MODERN WARS IN PERSPECTIVE series has produced a series of remarkable books: this ranks with the very best.