The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699: 1326-1699 (Essential Histories)
£9.47
Short and consise history with pictures - Everything should be there but something is missing.The Ottomans were for a time one of the greatest empires on earth, during the time when Europe was in her middle ages. They rose to power after the Christian Crusades and were for a time the greatest enemy of Christians. Their armies layed siege to Vienna twice and there fleet ruled a large part of the Mediterainian. And amongst the warriors of the time their Jannisaries were elite. Somehow this book fails to convay the majesty of the Ottomans and its cronological order is somehow difficult to follow. Funnily enough the pictures in the book normaly appear on the wrong page in context with the main text. In the few places it becomes interesting it stops short and leaves you loning for more. It does however present a skelital outline of the Ottoman Empire over the specific timeperiod in a fairly short book and could help in giving a wider prespective on Ottoman history. Sadly it just isn t very good.