Customer Reviews

Ottoman Empire

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I watched this documentary at History Channel on August 25, 2006 from 8:00 to 10:00 PM. It takes 2 hours with many commercials thrown in. I only wished if it were much longer than 2 hours. The time span covered in two hours is about six centuries, starting with the birth of Ottoman Empire and ending with the death of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (founder of modern Turkey) in 1938. Needless to say, a lot remains uncovered when you try to fit many accomplishments of this Empire into a two-hour documentary.

However, what has been covered by the History Channel is definitely worth watching. Among the strongest points of this documentary are the strong visual scenes acted by Turks (you can almost tell their excitement and pride in bringing history to life), the people interviewed such as Caroline Finkel (though many more could be included if time allowed), the amazing accomplishment of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror when he was only 21 years old in 1453 (conquest of Constantinople or Istanbul). One weak point is that the English script is not sometimes the simultaneous translation of the Turkish speaking historian being interviewed; in other words, the original comments in Turkish are not exactly translated in the English voiceover, a fact you can only notice if you know Turkish as well as English. Another weakness is the short time devoted to the documentary as I mentioned in the first paragraph.

I highly recommend this documentary to anybody who is interested in learning more about the Ottoman Empire, its philosophy, rules, rulers, etc. Today's modern Turkey, situated between Europe and the Middle East, has evolved from the Ottoman Empire due to the extreme efforts of Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) and his followers. Thus, this documentary should be seen by all Turkish people, world historians as well as others who would like to gain a better understanding of the balance between the Middle East and Europe today.