Finkel's history of the Ottoman empire is certainly comprehensive in scope, encompassing the empire from its origins in the late middle-ages to the rise of Ataturk. Yet I begrudgingly give it four stars. While the scope and scale of the Ottoman empire is presented in detail, there was an ebb and flow to the relative strength of her writing, which was distracting.

The first quarter of the history is remarkable - I assume this is Finkel's area of expertise, given the detail of the political, religious and social climate of Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean in the 13th and 14th centuries. How Osman began to exploit the various divisions of competing ethnic groups, religions, and constantly shifting political loyalties is shown masterfully. With such a strong start, I was disappointed in her treatment of the founding and expansion of the empire in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Recognizing that this is an *Ottoman* history, I had expected more detail and information on the conquest and occupation of the Balkans, the political competition between Hungary, Poland, Habsburg Austria and the mariatime powers of Venice and Genoa. These states were of course disucssed, but I had expected a deeper, more nuanced historical analysis of the complex econcomic and political competition between each of them.

Thankfully Finkel again finds her footing as she writes about the 18th and 19th centuries - in fact, her discussion of the slow and painful implosion of the Ottoman empire was, to me at least, the best part of the book as she intertwines the various causes of its decline: increased econcomic competition from industrializing European nations, the influx of silver from the New World, new shipping routes to India and Asia, the adoption of "real politik" by European nation-states (and the reluctance to do so by the Ottomans), growing national movements within the Ottoman empire, and of course the overall reluctance by the Janissaries and ulaema to embrace change and moderinzation in any form.

In writing, the amount of historical detail is almost overwhelming - repeatedly I had to remind myself what the larger point being made was given the sheer volume of information she shares. Clearly she is writing for an academic audience, something potential customers may want to keep in mind. In writing for an academic audience, I was disappointed at the relative lack of primary sources she used in her research and writing; many sources are translations or are cited in previously published works. All criticism aside, this is a densely detailed work, with a comprehensive view of the Ottoman empire, and a solid history of an important empire in world history.

This book is large for a reason- it is a comprehensive work on the History of the Ottoman Empire, not a small pocket-sized guide for just anyone. That is what is lost here, for this book delivers on what it promises. If you wish to know much more about the details of the Ottoman Empire and love history, then I highly recommend this work. It starts from the first conquests of the Ottomans onwards up until the beginnings of the Turkish Republic under Ataturk, which is 600 years of fascinating events. It provides details into the minds of each ruler and his governmental structure, how relations were improved or destroyed, and provides many references from primary sources which add to the narrative. Don't buy this book if you want a quick lesson- buy it if you are truly serious in learning more of the history of the Ottoman Empire.

I normally love thick history books but the author is a very boring writer. Nothing like David S. Landes, Jacques Barzun and Henry Commager Steel! Also, she has a linear narrative, starting with the supposed founding of the Ottoman Empire and ending with its fall. Boring!!

The book would benefit from a discussion of the economic and religious reasons for the failure to modernize of an empire that threatened Vienna as late as 1683. Otherwise, the book is informative but again, boring!!!

Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire
By Caroline Finkel


*** Too Much Information

As important as the Ottoman Empire is to an understanding of modern history, this ambitious and comprehensive book fails to put it into perspective.
Caroline Finkel tells us more than we need to know about the various Caliphs, Sultans and Potentates who ruled a loose collection of territory for about 500 years. It reminds me of Old Testament accounts: ... and then came along Jacob, who lived for 800 years, and begat Meshak, who begat Joseph," etc.
This book may be valuable to Middle East and Central Asian Scholars, but it is simply too dense and impenetrable for the average reader.

This is certainly a comprehensive work, covering every major event in the life of the Ottoman court and Ottoman military history.

Missing is a good discussion of why a group of tribes who were not native to the area were able to become a force capable of storming Constantinople and eventually sieging Vienna or why the Ottoman Empire declined so fast. What held the empire together and what undid it? There are hints throughout and some fleeting discussions but nothing satisfying.

Maybe the author feels some obligation to "defend" her subject. At times she writes of one Ottoman action or another, that such action was no different than that of Christian European powers. She also has a couple of shots at Bernard Lewis. Maybe she presumes the important information is known, but explanation is lacking.

Eyebrows may be raised by her treatment of the Armenian genocide. She seems to say there may have been some atrocities but maybe not as extensive as alleged. But her explanation of what happened to the victims is very brief. Sure she covers over 500 years of history in 550 pages. But if she is going to write something long, she ought to go even longer, as the topic of a genocide is one that demands more explanation.

So overall, a disappointing return for the investment of time.

"Osman's Dream" is that rare thing, a work of groundbreaking history that is also extremely timely. This book is crucial for anyone seeking to understand relations between East and West or Turkey's place in the world today. The epic story of the Ottomans from their origins in the steppes of Central Asia to their occupation of much of Europe, this is the first book to uncover the empire's own dynamic history. The book shimmers with the splendor of the imperial court at a time when European nations were barely emerging from backwoods primitivism. Multiracial, multicultural, multinational, for much of its history the Ottoman empire exceeded Europe in religious tolerance and cultural richness. Caroline Finkel's beautifully written narrative challenges from the ground up the orthodoxies and stereotypes that haunt popular views of the Ottomans and the Turks. Everybody who was fascinated by the "Turks" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London (2005) should buy and read this book. It is a sophisticated synthesis of the best new scholarship and of original archival research, with lessons for today's contentious nationalisms at every turn.

Pitched as a comprehensive but approachable history of the Ottoman Empire this has a pretty good stab at it but is probably destined to be only be of interest to those already familiar with the subject. A bit too daunting for the general reader.