Essential Histories: The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699 is a condensed overview of Turkish expansion into and retreat from Europe. Following a brief introduction to the materialization of “the Ottomans” (i.e. tracking their growth on the map as they go from being refugees to becoming conquerors), Stephen Turnbull presents a survey of major European military campaigns of the empire that, he claims, “lived for war.”
Beginning with the capture of Bursa in 1326, and ending with the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, the volume covers three centuries. That it does so in a mere ninety-one pages means that one should not expect a concise and detailed account of every significant military expedition. One does, however, get a good impression of the conditions of chosen battles. The accompanying images and primary source accounts enhance Essential Histories: The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699. What hinders this enhancement, however, is that the images do not always correspond to the story being told on a given page and there are no citations for primary source references.
After his list of battles, Turnbull divides his last twenty-three pages amongst five topics. The portrait of the Serbian Konstantin Mihailovic will be the most interesting to the reader already familiar with the history and nature of the Ottoman Empire. What is covered in the remaining four topics—“Terror and Toleration,” “Grand Vizier Mehmet Koprulu,” “Osman II to Murat IV,” and “The Ottoman Decline 1683-99”—will serve as an unimpressive reinforcement of already known facts for those who know Ottoman history, and as interesting tidbits to look further into for the inquisitive novice.
Ultimately, Turnbull’s venture out of his field of expertise is successful.[i] He provides an interesting and accessible account of Ottoman expansion through major battles. The criticisms of this volume focusing more on European campaigns than Eastern or North African campaigns are valid. Such criticisms, however, are somewhat unwarranted when one considers that this is a slim overview meant to ignite the curiosity of those who are newly interested in the history of the Ottoman Empire. This book does not claim to be an authoritative and comprehensive text on the history of Ottoman expansion. Rather, as the title suggests, one can be content that it covers most of the “essentials.”
[i] Most of Turnbull’s previous work covers Asian military history with a special focus on Japan!
