Flow of conscience....I got very blurred memories from the nearly one thousand long history. Obviously you need to make some stresses or spikes in narration at the most focal points.

John Julius Norwich's 3-volume epic on Byzantium perfectly is a striking difference in its part dealing with Ottomans.

And I heard there's a better book on Ottoman Empire out there... ( )

An anecdotal romp through the history of the Ottoman Empire. A swift run through the characters and characteristics. Imaginative, florid writing that brings incidents together. But a bit like a tasty snack. Enjoyable but not filling. ( )

A wild ride - somewhat disjointed but treating a history of such breadth thematically rather than chronologically makes a kind of sense. What an amazing place ( )

This book was extremely interesting for it's excellent descriptions of the history and context of the various Sultans (or Sultan-Caliphs) to rule over the rise and fall of the Ottoman empire. The explanations and descriptions fo the cultures and circumstances of the various peoples who made up or were drawn into the empire, and how that happened, helps tremendously to understand the show Muhtesem Yüzyil, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1848220/ illustrating the life of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and those around him. Now that I've finished this book, I no longer need to see the rest of the series! :-) ( )

This book was extremely interesting for it's excellent descriptions of the history and context of the various Sultans (or Sultan-Caliphs) to rule over the rise and fall of the Ottoman empire. The explanations and descriptions fo the cultures and circumstances of the various peoples who made up or were drawn into the empire, and how that happened, helps tremendously to understand the show Muhtesem Yüzyil, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1848220/ illustrating the life of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and those around him. Now that I've finished this book, I no longer need to see the rest of the series! :-) ( )