OTTOMANS: DISSOLVING IMAGES

By Andrew Wheatcroft

For generations outsiders saw the Ottomans as bloodthirsty savages or as decadent pleasure-seekers, infatuated by their fine silk robes, unique black tulips and beautiful slave girls. This book uncovers the reality of am empire, created by the fifteenth-century warlords of the Anatolian steppes, whose imprint can still be felt throughout the Middle East. Andrew Wheatcroft examines the consolidation of Ottoman power, the dynamic multinational state constrained by hierarchy and protocol (and the constant menace of the executioner's silken cord), and the slow path to reforms based only superficially on Western models. He concludes with some ugly European fantasies about 'the Orient," featuring Lustful and Terrible Turks.

Penguin Group (1993)