Ilber Ortayli, born in Vienna in 1947, is a leading expert in the Ottomans, who is known for making history accessible to a wider audience, and is Director of the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. He is author of many works on the Ottomans including 'The German Influence on the Ottoman Empire', 'The Longest Century of the Empire', 'From Tradition to the Future', 'Studies on the Ottoman Transformation and Local Administration in the Ottoman Empire'.

'Lyrical yet careful, this introduction to the Ottoman reality will soon become a classic of popular history-writing.' T.J. Winter, University of Cambridge

Ilber Ortayli, born in Vienna in 1947, is a leading expert in the Ottomans, who is known for making history accessible to a wider audience, and is Director of the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. He is author of many works on the Ottomans including 'The German Influence on the Ottoman Empire', 'The Longest Century of the Empire', 'From Tradition to the Future', 'Studies on the Ottoman Transformation and Local Administration in the Ottoman Empire'.

'Lyrical yet careful, this introduction to the Ottoman reality will soon become a classic of popular history-writing.' T.J. Winter, University of Cambridge

Ilber Ortayli, born in Vienna in 1947, is a leading expert in the Ottomans, who is known for making history accessible to a wider audience, and is Director of the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. He is author of many works on the Ottomans including 'The German Influence on the Ottoman Empire', 'The Longest Century of the Empire', 'From Tradition to the Future', 'Studies on the Ottoman Transformation and Local Administration in the Ottoman Empire'.

'Lyrical yet careful, this introduction to the Ottoman reality will soon become a classic of popular history-writing.' T.J. Winter, University of Cambridge