Originally conceived as a military history, this second edition completes the story of the Middle Eastern populations that underwent significant transformation in the nineteenth century, finally imploding in communal violence, paramilitary activity, and genocide after the Berlin Treaty of 1878.
Now called The Ottomans 1700-1923: An Empire Besieged, the book charts the evolution of a military system in the era of shrinking borders, global consciousness, financial collapse, and revolutionary fervour. The focus of the text is on those who fought, defended, and finally challenged the sultan and the system, leaving long-lasting legacies in the contemporary Middle East. Richly illustrated, the text is accompanied by brief portraits of the friends and foes of the Ottoman house.
Written by a foremost scholar of the Ottoman Empire and featuring illustrations that have not been seen in print before, this second edition is essential reading for both students and scholars of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman society, military and political history, and Ottoman-European relations.
Introduction Part 1: The Ottoman World pre-1800 1. Imperial Crisis in the Eurasian Context 2. The Ottoman system circa 1700 Part 2: The Revolutionary Moment 1800-1840 3. Selim III and the Ottoman Revolution 4. Mahmud II: An Ottoman ‘Reign of Terror’ Part 3: The New Muslim Absolutism 1840-1870 5. The Great Transformation 6. Imperial Collapse: An Empire Besieged Part 4: The Final Curtain: Imperial Reordering and Collapse 1870-1923 7. Ottomanism and its Rivals 8. 1878 Berlin Treaty and Consequences 9. Leadup to WWI and Epilogue 10. Epilogue
Biography
Virginia Aksan’s particular interests lie in the Ottomans in a comparative imperial context, focusing on borderlands, warrior societies, knowledge transfer, intermediaries, and perceptions of the Ottoman evolution in a revolutionary age. Her publications include An Ottoman Statesman in War and Peace: Ahmed Resmi Efendi, 1700-1783 (1995); The Early Modern Ottomans, co-edited with Daniel Goffman (2007), and more than 40 edited chapters and journal articles.
