Lords of the Horizon: A History of the Ottoman Empire

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book is a Nice Memory
Review: To be truthful, the subtitle to this book should be something like "An Introduction to the History of the Ottoman Empire" The author tells the story in a rather chaotic fashion, not professional historian-like. I should know. I have been "teaching" "history" at a small college in the SW for over 30 years. So, when I say "history this is not," it is not something that I would think of as a professionally written/styled history book. It is better than that. It is a story of the history. It seems to have all the "high spots," but it tells them in a catching, romantic, and very readable style. It is better than history. It comes close to being good literature. --no, great literature. OK, so it is not great literature... Before reading this book I had not so much as touched anything on the Ottoman Empire. This book made me want to know more. It is good. Good Good Good

Rating:
Summary: Shallow, superficial, lightweight; a big disappointment.
Review: What a disappointment! Having just read with enormous pleasure Norwich's work on Byzantium, I was relishing a continuation on the Ottoman empire. Unfortunately, this is not the book!. The title is misleading: it is not a history; maybe an "essay", or "thoughts". It lacks structure. One somehow has the nagging feeling that one is reading a novel, and you wonder how deeply it has been researched, as it is hard to dig one's teeth into anything of substance. I find it hard to distinguish fact from the author's imagination. Furthermore, there is only one very general map, which is inexcusable: how can you follow the action?
I'm afraid I dropped it after the first five chapters and have ordered Kinross's book on the same subject. Wish me better luck!
If you have a serious interest in the history of the Ottomans, I definitely don't recommend this one.