The Empire Books

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.

I love all H.E. Marshalls books of history and was very happy to find her books back in print (I'd been printing them from the Baldwin Project). I read them to my young kids at bed time and they love the stories.

The only original print book I have of hers is "A History of France" which has dates of the historical events and figures are in the outer margins. This gives the reader a much better picture of the flow of history.

I don't know if she did this for all of her books, but if so, I wish those who reprinted this book had left that information in.

I gave the book 5 stars because it's a great book either way.

This book is the first in a series of four covering the massive confrontation that destroyed the greek world. The subject matter is Thucydides Peloponesian War which Kagan manages to give many new insights into. With his thourough analysis he looks at the archealogical evidence as well as the literature in a way that gives pause to those judging Thucydides to be the first "unbiased" historian. Thucydides used the facts for his own purposes and left out important details about the epic conflict that would leave a blemish on his side of the story.
In the series Kagan wonders at some of the details of the Peloponesian War that remain unexplained, for example, how Pericles expected Sparta to wear itself out invading the Attic country side.
Some of these questions leave inexplicable holes in Thucydides narrative.
Overall an excellent comapnion to the Peloponesian War that throws a critical light on all that is said in that tomb.

If you are a history buff then this is the book for you. It gives you a lot of detail. I plan on getting the other books in this series. It is top notch and a must have for anyone that seriously wants to study history.

The Oxford History of the British Empire edited by WM Roger Louis is an excellent compilation of top scholarship related to all aspects of the British Empire. Various authors contributed well written chapters to create an understanding of the Empire by century. Volume four is an understanding of the twentieth century and looks at the fall of the empire. The Empires performance in World War 1 and 2 are assessed in the first half and the myth of the unified empire is explored. The British Empire in World War 2 was able to harness the power of all the countries to move as a unified force but the myth of British invincibility was shattered. The promises of freedom that the allies fought for was transformed into a reality as the Dominions and Commonwealth argued for independence after the war. Some areas were granted independence very quickly after the war and British trusteeship proved unable to combat the flaring ethnic and racial tensions appearing around the world. In Asia the myth of British invincibility was destroyed by the fall of Singapore and proved that Britain as a paper tiger in the east. The empire went into severe decline with the Suez Crises and Britain's miscalculations of their position as a world power. The book does an excellent job of tying together a wide range of sources and giving a great perspective on the British Empire as a whole. It covers the areas of the globe relevant to the Empire and is very focused on the information presented. If you want to learn about any aspect of the Empire in the 20th century this is a great place to start.