Suleiman the Magnificent, most glorious of the Ottoman sultans, kept Europe atremble for nearly half a century. In a few years he led his army as far as the gates of Vienna, made himself master of the Mediterranean and established his court in Baghdad. Faced with this redoubtable champion, who regarded it as his duty to extend the boundaries of Islam farther and farther, the Christian world struggled to unite against him. 'The Shadow of God on Earth', but also an expert politician and all-...

The indispensable account of the Ottoman Empire's Siege of Malta from the author of Hannibal and Gibraltar.In the first half of the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was thought to be invincible. Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman sultan, had expanded his empire from western Asia to southeastern Europe and North Africa. To secure control of the Mediterranean between these territories and launch an offensive into western Europe, Suleiman need...

The inspiration for the Netflix series premiering March 3rd"Hugely enjoyable, magnificently researched, and deeply absorbing." —Jason Goodwin, New York Times Book ReviewAt midnight, December 31, 1925, citizens of the newly proclaimed Turkish Republic celebrated the New Year. For the first time ever, they had agreed to use a nationally unified calendar and clock.Yet in Istanbul—an ancient crossroads and Turkey's largest city—people were looki...

İstanbul Efsaneleri'ni ve yaklaşık 20 adet en önemli şehir hikayesini anlattığımız bu eserimizde, sonunda bizim kentimiz, İstanbul'un antik tarihine de uzanıp, onun hikayesini dinleyeceksiniz.. Bilinen tarihi 2600 yıldan daha eskilere uzanan bu yaşlı, ama muhteşem kent, zamanın akışı içinde büyük uygarlıkların yıkılışlarım da gördü, yenilerinin nasıl kurulduklarına da... İmparatorlukların bu herkesi kıskandıran görkemli başkentinin köşe bucağı, birbiriyle ilgisi olmayan kültürlerin mirasıy...

We have men and we have rocks in plenty, but we have nothing else. - Dost Mohammad Khan to John LawrenceIn the 21st century, as NATOs operation against the Taliban and al-Qaeda has dragged on for over a decade, the old maxim that Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires has been revived. Indeed, the rugged, desolate, and mountainous region was a place that many Westerners likely could not have found on a map before the attacks of September 11, and now the nations border with Pakistan is one of...

A gripping exploration of the fall of Constantinople and its connection to the world we live in today.The fall of Constantinople in 1453 signaled a shift in history and the end of the Byzantium Empire. Roger Crowley's comprehensive account of the battle between Mehmet II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Constantine XI, the 57th emperor of Byzantium, illuminates the period in history that was a precursor to the current conflict between the West and the Middle East...

The Greek War of Independence was fought against the occupying Ottoman Turks from 1821-1832. Started in part by the Filiki Eteria movement in Greece, uprising 1821 soon lead to a full scale war. By 1828, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom pledged their support to Greece and helped defeat the Turks. In 1832, Greece was recognized as an independent country. Greek Independence day is celebrated on March 25th. Lords piece on the Greek Revolution provides a brief history of the events of th...

The essential travel companion for anyone visiting Gallipoli.Each year, thousands of Australians visit Gallipoli to pay homage and see where their forebears fought, suffered and died. Anzac Cove, Quinn's Post, Lone Pine - the iconic places where our national legend was forged.In this essential and authoritative guide, practical information is combined with historical detail, alongside revealing and often heartrending quotes from the letters and diaries of t...

Early in his career, Adolf Hitler took inspiration from Benito Mussolini, his senior colleague in fascism—this fact is widely known. But an equally important role model for Hitler and the Nazis has been almost entirely neglected: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. Stefan Ihrig’s compelling presentation of this untold story promises to rewrite our understanding of the roots of Nazi ideology and strategy.Hitler was deeply interested in Turkish affairs after 1919. He...

In 1482, the Florentine humanist and statesman Francesco Berlinghieri produced the Geographia, a book of over one hundred folio leaves describing the world in Italian verse, inspired by the ancient Greek geography of Ptolemy. The poem, divided into seven books (one for each day of the week the author “travels” the known world), is interleaved with lavishly engraved maps to accompany readers on this journey.Sean Roberts demonstrates that the Geographia represents t...

Survivors of the Armenian genocide of 1915 and their descendants have used music to adjust to a life in exile and counter fears of obscurity. In this nuanced and richly detailed study, Sylvia Angelique Alajaji shows how the boundaries of Armenian music and identity have been continually redrawn: from the identification of folk music with an emergent Armenian nationalism under Ottoman rule to the early postgenocide diaspora community of Armenian musicians in New York, a more self-consciousl...

"Represents an important advancement in developing the strand of literature that considers how economic conditions affect Islamist movements." — Middle Eastern StudiesA. Kadir Yildirim and other scholars have used the term "Muslim Democrat" to describe moderate Islamist political parties, suggesting a parallel with Christian Democratic parties in Europe. These parties (MDPs) are marked by their adherence to a secular political regime, normative commitment t...