History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808 [Paperback]

Stanford J. Shaw (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521291631 | ISBN-13: 978-0521291637 | Publication Date: October 29, 1976

Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280-1808 is the first book of the two-volume History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. It describes how the Ottoman Turks, a small band of nomadic soldiers, managed to expand their dominions from a small principality in northwestern Anatolia on the borders of the Byzantine Empire into one of the great empires of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe and Asia, extending from northern Hungary to southern Arabia and from the Crimea across North Africa almost to the Atlantic Ocean. The volume sweeps away the accumulated prejudices of centuries and describes the empire of the sultans as a living, changing society, dominated by the small multinational Ottoman ruling class led by the sultan, but with a scope of government so narrow that the subjects, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, were left to carry on their own lives, religions, and traditions with little outside interference.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

A comprehensive account of the rise of the Ottoman dynasty utilizes a vast amount of original and secondary material in forming a major history--from its beginnings to the present day.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 29, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521291631
• ISBN-13: 978-0521291637
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,163,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A counter to Dr. Bouchard's poor review., February 17, 2006

By 

Monsieur L (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808 (Paperback)

This work was not intended to bring to the forefront a great debate over the Armenian Question, Dr. Bouchard! The purpose of this work is to cover an extensive period of Ottoman history in a small amount of pages, and I think it is presented well. Merely rejecting the words of Dr. Shaw based upon such a narrow, controversial topic as the Armenian Question is not being true to the people who want solid reviews.

True the work is very detailed in its factual presentation, but it educates the reader on the many facets of Ottoman civilization. Too many authors of Ottoman history fail to get to the true meat of the matter, and Dr. Shaw does not dissapoint. I would recommend this to any student of Ottoman history as an overall guide to the events during the period it covers.

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history, October 5, 2004

By 

Tick - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 2, Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey 1808-1975 (Paperback)

Thorough and accurate; a solidly impressive look at a historical area much neglected in the west.

Shaw's extensive volume covers much more than the Armenian experience in Ottoman days, yet those who are single-minded about this particular topic have nothing better to do than to try and discredit. Witness Reviewer "Dr. Mario-Jean Bouchard," and his seedy attempt to knock not only Prof. Shaw, but the work of others that don't conform to his zealous pro-Armenian views. "Many unsupported references"?? If anything, "History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey" has a multitude of well-referenced facts. Bringing up the highly unprofessional methodology of similarly genocide-obsessed pseudo-academicians as Robert Melson and others provides sad commentary on the unethical methods of fanatics. Armenian extremists actually bombed the Los Angeles home of Prof. Shaw in 1977, because they did not approve of the "Armenian" chapter of this book. Reviewers with an agenda provide a different form of terrorism when their mission is to attempt the destruction of a person's credibility... and there are times when the weapon of the pen can be mightier than the sword.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Scholarly Research, January 15, 2001

By 

"yalinmerter" (Oak Brook, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808 (Paperback)

I always admired Prof Shaw's careful research regading the Turkish history. It is also interesting to note that in the section titled 'On Armenian Collaboration With Invading Russian Armies in 1914,' he does expose the well-known Armenian crime of genocide against the defenseless Muslims in 1914.

"In April 1915 Dashnaks from Russian Armenia organized a revolt in the city of Van, whose 33,789 Armenians comprised 42.3 percent of the population. Leaving Erivan on April 28, 1915, Armenian Army reached Van on May 14 and organized and carried out a general slaughter of the local Muslim population during the next two days."