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Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: MiniPigs on February 07, 2021, 10:14:57 PM
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Is there a good book on the 15-16th Ottoman empire, their Sultans and their court which discusses their organization and powers. Ditto on the janissaries.
Note, not just any book but an intriguing, well written book which even a casual reader would find engrossing.
Something like this but with some reviews about whether it is a great book or not.
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I have yet to find one.
The netflix series Ottoman: Rise of an Empire had some good stuff in it.
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I'm still looking, so let me know. I did enjoy Harold Lamb's, "Sulieman the Magnificent" but haven't found anything since that grabbed. I have a languishing Ottoman Turk Army to paint up but have never gotten the bug to get down into.
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Forgot to include this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Private-Royal-Life-Ottoman-Palace-ebook/dp/B017MXCZ50/ref=zg_bs_6361597011_18?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W8MBV6YTJ8Y3V7VCYA0V
I haven't read it.
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Good morning, I must admit I have always found books on the Ottomans quite "generic" about the whole span of the Empire 14-20th centuries, or pretty academic....with the exception of a few books on Suleiman the Magnificent. Books I can recommend albeit they may not fully match you specification;
Suleyman the Magnificent and His Age by Kunt and Woodhead.
Ottoman Warfare 1500-1700 by R Murphey. Quite detailed and covers matters such as manpower and logistics.
The Janissaries by G Goodwin. Probably a bit dated now but I no of no other except the Osprey on the Janissaries .
Lords of the Horizons by J Goodwin. A very readable general history.
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A bit off the wall but the Vlad WAB Supplement has got a lot of snippets in regarding the Ottomans and the background history is a great introduction into their interactions with their neighbours etc.
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The big one, generally considered the best out there, on the topic of the Ottomans is Osman's Dream by Caroline Finkel. However, it is a real academic slug unless you have a great interest in the topic. Maybe if you get it, it is worth just reading the part on the period or a particular event about the Ottomans you are interested in.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Osmans-Dream-Ottoman-Empire-1300-1923/dp/0719561124/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3ACZ64VRNLBAX&dchild=1&keywords=osmans+dream&qid=1612792782&sprefix=osmans+dre%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1
Then you have Bettany Hughes Istanbul which covers the complete history of the city.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Istanbul-Three-Cities-Bettany-Hughes/dp/1780224737/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2FWI63LYRP2BG&dchild=1&keywords=istanbul&qid=1612792857&sprefix=Istanbul%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-2
Then you have Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore. I believe a revised edition just came out of it as well. Once again covers the whole history of the city. Anything Ottoman related will be from the early 16th century onwards.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jerusalem-Biography-Simon-Sebag-Montefiore-ebook/dp/B004KA9VCE/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Jerusalem&qid=1612792910&sr=8-4
None of these are particularly light reads. I'd recommend the Netflix series mentioned above and then there are plenty of videos about the Ottomans by Kings and Generals, hopefully, the link sends you their complete playlist on the matter.
https://youtu.be/txyqS5yuw30
Then there are extra history's videos, on Suleiman the magnificent and the 2nd siege of Vienna
https://youtu.be/JGZSkLq3Eng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxZ9coEkd-U
I will be interested to see what everyone else suggests as I am always looking for new books on the subject of the Ottomans. Sorry if this isn't of any help, I do think you'll be hard-pressed for good casual reads on the subject as it isn't, in my view, a subject of great popularity in the English speaking world.
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It won't give you everything you want but The Galleys At Lepanto by Jack Beeching gives a fine flavour of the Ottoman Court and its personalities. It is informative, well written and entertaining.