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Summary: Read "Report On Turkey" By George Horton, Insted
Review: I'll use the words of a former customer review : "It's almost a modern soap opera." If this is the average level of the american reader then I guess all books will be like this in the future! It's thrilling how a writer can turn a 400 year old empire that kept it's regions in a 3rd world state into a lovely novel. I knew Americans had a special sympathy for Turkish people, but history should be told as it was made, not through the modern commercial style, for which we got USA to thank for...
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Summary: Now that's what I call history!
Review: If all history books were written in the same style as this one, I might never have flunked history myself! A long, complicated series of events are presented in a fast moving, logical, most interesting & unfussy way. It's just a pleasure to read Lord Kinross' exquisite English. It's also a pleasure to share his deep knowledge & love of the subject. I found the first three-quarters of the book slightly more enjoyable, quite simply because it dealt with larger than life central characters operating successfully & disastrously, but always with complete authority. Sultans from the magnificent, to all manner of absolute crackpots, are described in all their glory, or lack of same. Do your self a favour & read this book. It's arguably the easiest & most entertaining way I have found to improve one's history!
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Summary: The ideal first book on the Ottoman subject
Review: In reading the previous reviews before I decided to write this, I concede that if you are indeed very knowledgible on Turkish history, this will not add very much to your academic base. And in trying to deal with 622 years of history in just over 600 pages, choices had to be made on what to describe in detail and what he had to either gloss over. Except for the ignorant statement on the Armenian persecution, all comments regarding how most emphasis was on the European part of the Empire with little attention on the Middle East and North Africa are true. But what this book does for you is make you want to LEARN MORE. This book convinced me to by the Byzantium - Decline and Fall from John Julius Norwich, which covered much of the same period in this books Parts I and II. And that book has made me want to expand further. The best parts of the book for me were Parts I, II, and III which takes us to the "Zenith of the Empire" with Sultan Suleiman's death. Highlights include the sieges and eventual capture of Constantinople, the effect of Timur, and the detail of the campaigns of Suleiman and the wonderful descriptions of the battles that turned history (including the failed Vienna sieges). As another reviewer said (taking the words out of my mouth), Parts VI and VII did drag a bit - likely because stories in the late empire pale in the comparison with the early chapter. But this in no way should deminish this books value in your library. As a starter history book, the reading is easy, sketches and maps very helpful, and many sections enthralling. It is with this type of reader that I give this 5 stars.
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Summary: The ideal first book on the Ottoman subject
Review: In reading the previous reviews before I decided to write this, I concede that if you are indeed very knowledgible on Turkish history, this will not add very much to your academic base. And in trying to deal with 622 years of history in just over 600 pages, choices had to be made on what to describe in detail and what he had to either gloss over. Except for the ignorant statement on the Armenian persecution, all comments regarding how most emphasis was on the European part of the Empire with little attention on the Middle East and North Africa are true. But what this book does for you is make you want to LEARN MORE. This book convinced me to by the Byzantium - Decline and Fall from John Julius Norwich, which covered much of the same period in this books Parts I and II. And that book has made me want to expand further. The best parts of the book for me were Parts I, II, and III which takes us to the "Zenith of the Empire" with Sultan Suleiman's death. Highlights include the sieges and eventual capture of Constantinople, the effect of Timur, and the detail of the campaigns of Suleiman and the wonderful descriptions of the battles that turned history (including the failed Vienna sieges). As another reviewer said (taking the words out of my mouth), Parts VI and VII did drag a bit - likely because stories in the late empire pale in the comparison with the early chapter. But this in no way should deminish this books value in your library. As a starter history book, the reading is easy, sketches and maps very helpful, and many sections enthralling. It is with this type of reader that I give this 5 stars.
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Summary: A Great Resource For Westerners
Review: In the West unfortunately little is taught about Turkish history: the average person perhaps has only a general idea of the Ottoman Empire, and tragically little understanding of the formation of the subsequent Republic under Ataturk. Kinross's book is the essential skeleton for anyone looking to obtain a more in-depth knowledge of the long-reigning, sprawling Moslem empire, or looking to begin a more intricate study of it. Kinross runs over all of the major events and significant Sultans with shrewd insight into the functioning, or lack thereof, of the different Ottoman regimes. This is unfortunately perhaps the only work by Kinross, a great authority on Turkish history, still in print and (surprisingly) in mass circulation. Kinross's legendary biography of Ataturk and his studies of the Suez, the Taurus range, etc. have unfortunaly been forgotten; but for anyone who enjoyed this book or is in need of such a perceptive author as Kinross, there's always your Public Library. Another reader commented on the omission of the Armenian massacres in the book: this is a blantantly erroneous accusation. For the record, Kinross goes well into the topic of the Armenian genocide campaigns by both Abdul-Hamid II and the Young Turks in this book: he gives, at great length, long and gruesome depictions of these horrifying mass-murders. In my experience with reading Kinross, he rarely misses an opportunity to reflect on the tragedy, even wryly pointing out in "Ataturk" the ironies of how it would later heavily burden the Turks on the deserted Eastern front against the Russians in WWI.
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Summary: Clear, accessable history for us lay-people
Review: Kinross effectively reconstructs Ottoman history in the space of several hundred pages and in doing so, gives a good overview of an important civilization without become so overly academic and thus too dense to understand. The book, although a history, is as easily readable as any novel. This perhaps is its most impressive feat - that even those of us who aren't trained historians can understand and appreciate the people and events involved therein. My only real criticism of this book is that I would have like to have seen more about the effect of the Crusades on the early empire. Although the Ottomans came to power after the Crusader period, I was curious as to the effect of that period on their conception of Christians and Westerners in general. Otherwise recommended.
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Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Kinross has written an outstanding survey of the Ottoman Empire. He traces the history of the Empire starting with its great founder Osman, through its' highest glory at the time of its two greatest sons Mehmed The Conqueror and Suleiman The Magnificant and finally to its fall in the early 20th century. The book evolves around the sultans and thus the story is told mostly as the story of the Empire's rulers and their policies or lack thereof. However, by chosing this approach Kinross has managed to accomplish the monumental task of covering 600 years of history in one extremely interesting volume. It is therefore an excellent introduction to the subject and a good starting point for those interested in the Turkish empire. In many ways this book is similar to Norwich's excellent Byzantine Trilogy and fans of Norwich will also like this book.
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Summary: Surprisingly Easy Read for 700 Pages
Review: Lord Kinross is very successful at historic storytelling. To take a subject as vast as the empire was during its peak, and to organize it in such a coherent and readable fashion is no easy feat. He covers a lot of ground from politics to art, individual personalities to the "Ottoman Image" in the rest of the world. But I must add that as a Turk, I was dissappointed with the fact that it had a whole lot of overlap with our dismal history courses in high school. I haven't learned much, I did not really get the perspective I hoped for. I guess for a beginner, it's a great introductory text, but stay away from "Ottoman Centuries" if you already have a good foundation on Ottoman history.
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Summary: Enchanting!
Review: Magnificent storytelling and characters so colorful they are out of this world. Lord Kinross writes about a subject he's deeply in love with, and it shows. Absolutely fascinating!
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Summary: An Impossible Task, A Wonderful Job!
Review: Ottoman Empire, spreading into more than six centuries and three continents with seventy odd ethnic groups, is not such an easy task to handle: You will always have some parts missing and/or leave some groups with bitter feelings! I agree with the opinion that the book is not academic, but does it have to be so? The author makes this very difficult task of history telling into a very readable tome of only 630+ pages. And this in itself is a success.
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