The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power

In this diligent and rather dry general history, Imber, a lecturer at the University of Manchester, charts the Ottoman Empire from its birth, circa 1300, through its zenith in the reign of Suleyman, to the end of its expansion in the mid-17th century. The first section of his book, a chronological narrative, begins with Osman, the founder who gave the Ottoman Empire his name, and ends, essentially, with the Sultan Ibrahim's descent into madness and his 1648 murder. Imber then moves into considerations of the structures and workings of power in the empire: the dynasty, which galvanized control around a sultan and his male progeny; the methods by which ministers and other officials were recruited; the physical and political structure of the palace, with its eunuchs, harems and grand viziers; the division of control in the provinces, the sacred and secular laws; and the branches of the military. His narrative, which makes great use of secondary sources but also employs newly translated primary ones as well, will introduce the lay reader to the complicated and often bloody history of the Empire, if not necessarily elegantly, then efficiently and thoroughly.