Ottoman Centuries

Step into the enigmatic world of "The Ottoman Empire" a compelling exploration of the rise, zenith, and eventual decline of one of the most formidable empires in history. This meticulously researched account takes listeners on a captivating journey through the annals of time, unraveling the intricate tapestry of a civilization that spanned over six centuries.

Looking forward to the joys of connubial bliss, newlyweds Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves, diplomats of the British Empire, set out toward Turkey for an exotic honeymoon. But on their first night in the city, a harem girl is found murdered, strangled in the courtyard of the Sultan's lavish Topkapi Palace. Sir Richard St. Clare, an Englishman who works at the embassy in Constantinople, is present and recognizes the girl as his own daughter who was kidnapped twenty years earlier. Emily and Colin promise the heartbroken father that they'll find her killer.

After years of trying to break into New York City's literary scene, Madeline Slaughter is emotionally and physically exhausted. When a friend offers her a safe haven as the live-in companion to reclusive, bestselling novelist Victor Hallowell she jumps at the chance to escape the city. Madeline expects to find rest and quiet in the forests of Upstate New York. Instead, she finds Victor, handsome and intensely passionate, and Audrey Coffin, Victor's mysterious and beautiful neighbor.

In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the fourth century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity’s greatest empire.

In 1683, an Ottoman army that stretched from horizon to horizon set out to seize the "Golden Apple," as Turks referred to Vienna. The ensuing siege pitted battle-hardened Janissaries wielding seventeenth-century grenades against Habsburg armies, widely feared for their savagery. The walls of...

By revolutionizing and modernizing Russian arms, including the creation of Russia’s first naval force, Peter was able to pursue an aggressive and expansionist foreign policy that set the stage for the way the European map would be redrawn again and again over the coming centuries. Some of those forays were memorably countered by Western Europeans and the Holy League, but the Ottomans’ most frequent foe was the Russian Empire, which opposed them for both geopolitical and religious reasons.

In 1520, a twenty-six-year-old prince inherited the most powerful empire on Earth. Over the next forty-six years, he would conquer Belgrade, Rhodes, Hungary, and Baghdad. His navy would dominate the Mediterranean. His legal code would govern millions for three centuries. His architects would build monuments that still stand today. His people called him "Kanuni"—the Lawgiver. Europeans called him "the Magnificent." Suleiman the Magnificent tells the complete story of the Ottoman Empire's greatest ruler—from the siege of Vienna to the love affair that scandalized his court, from the ...

How did Turkish change across the centuries? How did the language of early Central Asian Turkic communities develop into later literary and historical forms, and eventually into the Turkish spoken and written today? The History of Turkish is a rigorous yet readable college-level introduction to the historical development of Turkish across major stages of its evolution. Written entirely in English, this book guides readers through Old Central Asian Turkish, Thirteenth-Century Turkish, Seventeenth-Century Turkish, and Modern Turkish with clear explanations, carefully selected examples, and ...

The Ottoman Empire was at the height of its power during the 16th century when Cecilia Baffo Veniero was kidnapped from her Venetian homeland and chosen to be the wife of Selim II, successor to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. She would be known as Nurbanu. The Mapmaker's Daughter vividly imagines the confession of Nurbanu as she lies on her sickbed narrating the spectacular story of her rise to the pinnacle of imperial power, determined to understand how her extraordinary destiny was shaped. 

Stolen from his family. Forged into a weapon. Rade was only a boy when the Ottoman Empire tore him from his home and gave him a new name—Mehmet. Raised as a Janissary, he is taught loyalty, discipline… and how to forget who he once was. But some memories refuse to fade. As Mehmet rises through the ranks of the Sultan’s elite guard, he becomes a man feared on the battlefield—yet haunted by the life stolen from him. And when he meets Zehra, the Sultan’s daughter, everything begins to unravel. Their connection is forbidden. Dangerous. Impossible to ignore. In a world ruled by power, ...

In 1517, the Ottoman Sultan Selim "the Grim" conquered Egypt and brought his empire for the first time in history into direct contact with the trading world of the Indian Ocean. During the decades that followed, the Ottomans became progressively more engaged in the affairs of this vast and previously unfamiliar region, eventually to the point of launching a systematic ideological, military and commercial challenge to the Portuguese Empire, their main rival for control of the lucrative trade routes of maritime Asia.

Toward the middle of the 17th century, the Ottoman Empire is still at the apex of its power... Mehmed IV’s ascent to the throne at the age of six, however, greatly intensifies the struggles for power and control in the Sultan’s court. In a world dominated by men, two intelligent, beautiful and ambitious women wage an open war. The young Sultan’s grandmother and his mother fight over the regency: a severe battle in which all means are allowed to make sure only one of them would come out victorious. Who will overcome her adversary? Will it be the experienced Kösem Mahpeyker, who has ...

The Ottoman Empire was one of the longest standing empires in the world. Started in 1299, the Ottomans would conquer much of the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeastern Europe. This classic by William Deans covers 600 years of Ottoman rule.

Inside, you will hear about the history of the Ottoman empire, including: origins until the Balkan conquests; institutions and society: millets, guilds, trade, religion, and mysticism; 15th-century imperial style, 16th-century Golden Age, cracks before World War I; the Eastern Question; and much more!

Rethinking the history of the last thirteen centuries, in Crucible of Light, Elizabeth Drayson pulls together the epic interwoven history of the Muslim and Christian worlds. ‘Absolutely fascinating. At a time when a historical Christian Nationalism and chauvinism are gaining ground, this book...

The long agony of the “sick man of Europe”, an expression used by the Tsar of Russia to depict the falling Ottoman Empire, could almost blind people to its incredible power and history. Preserving its mixed heritage, coming from both its geographic position rising above the ashes of the Byzantine Empire and the tradition inherited from the Muslim Conquests, the Ottoman Empire lasted more than six centuries. Its soldiers fought, died, and conquered lands on three different continents, making it one of the few stable multi-ethnic empires in history, and likely one of the last.

Over the course of just 200 years, the Ottoman Empire grew from a small, obscure Anatolian state into the most powerful Muslim nation in the world, controlling vast swathes of the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and North Africa. Within the empire, science, medicine, technology, and art flourished, and the Ottoman army became one of the most feared and efficient fighting forces in existence. Then came a period of gradual decline.

From a small Turkish principality to a global superpower, the Ottoman Empire’s role in world history is certainly undeniable. For over six centuries, the empire was arguably the world’s strongest Muslim empire, dominating its rivals in Europe and Asia for many years.

"Christopher de Bellaigue has a magic talent for writing history. It is as if we are there as the era of Suleyman the Magnificent unfolds." —Orhan Pamuk, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature Narrated through the eyes of the intimates of Suleyman the Magnificent, the sixteenth-century...

This volume offers a comprehensive analysis of Turkish–Russian relations from historical roots to contemporary challenges. Covering five centuries of interaction, it explores diplomacy, security, energy, and cultural dimensions within shifting global power structures. Contemporary Turkish–Russian Relations in the 21st Century Global Geopolitics brings together distinguished experts to analyze the evolving dynamics between Türkiye and Russia. Organized into three sections—historical foundations, regional dimensions, and key strategic issues—the book offers in-depth coverage of ...