A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul

<p>Using a wealth of contemporary Ottoman sources, this book recreates the social history of Istanbul, a huge, cosmopolitan metropolis and imperial capital of the Ottoman Empire. Seat of the Sultan and an opulent international emporium, Istanbul was also a city of violence shaken regularly by natural disasters and by the turmoil of sultanic politics and violent revolt. Its inhabitants, entertained by imperial festivities and cared for by the great pious foundations which touched every aspect of their lives, also amused themselves in the numerous pleasure gardens and the many public baths of the city. While the book is focused on Istanbul, it presents a broad picture of Ottoman society, how it was structured and how it developed and transformed across four centuries. As such, the book offers an exciting alternative to the more traditional histories of the Ottoman Empire.</p>

History

Boyar, Ebru

Fleet, Kate

Middle East

Cambridge University Press

Historical Study & Educational Resources

The loss of the Balkans was not merely a physical but also a psychological disaster for the Ottoman Empire. In this frank assessment, Ebru Boyar charts the creation of modern Turkish self-perception during the transition from the late Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic. The Balkans played a key role in identity construction during this period; humiliated by defeat, the Ottomans were stung by what they saw as a betrayal and ingratitude of the peoples of the region to whom they had brought peace and order for centuries and whom they had defended at the cost of much Turkish blood. It induced a sense of isolation and encapsulated the destruction of the Ottoman Empire's military machine and self-esteem by the Great Powers. This victim mentality was sustained by late Ottoman history-writing and by the historians of the early Republic, for whom history was an essential tool in the creation of the new Turkish national identity for the new Turkish Republic of the 20th century. 

Ottomans, Turks and the Balkans: Empire Lost, Relations Altered (Library of Ottoman Studies)

Europe

I.B.Tauris

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Books by Boyar, Ebru