I just finished "Osman's Dream", a history of the Ottoman Empire. While it was a tough slog in some places, I found it to be an interesting look at one of the least understood - but longest lasting - empires in history. Perhaps the most interesting thing is this: the empire almost didn't outlive its birth. I had already read a history of Tamerlane, and between that book and this one, it's clear that the Ottoman Empire nearly died in the wake of Tamerlane's 14th century expansion.

It lived on though, and grew right up until the end of the 1th century, when - like many other empires (Russian, Austro-Hungarian, British) - it went into long term decline. There were many reasons for that, and the book does a good job of explaining the problems that were specific to the Ottomans. For instance - as they lost non-Muslim peoples (during wars with the Russians, British, French, Italians, and Austrians), they lost their tax base. That was an artifact of Islamic law as they ran it, where taxes fell more heavily on non-Muslim peoples. As they lost that population, they lost revenues, and it was hard for them to cope with that.

The end game of the empires was interesting, too - apparently, the Ottoman sultans never really played up their role as Caliph of all Muslims until close to the end. Their position as head of the Empire was seen as far more prestigious until they started to collapse inward, and lost their non-muslim populations. That kind of throws a monkey wrench into some of the recent readings of history from some quarters, but it makes sense, and seems to be well researched.

In any event, I recommend the book to anyone who's interested in learning more about the Ottomans.

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