History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808

by Stanford J. Shaw

Book Overview

Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280-1808 is the first book of the two-volume History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. It describes how the Ottoman Turks, a small band of nomadic soldiers, managed to expand their dominions from a small principality in northwestern Anatolia on the borders of the Byzantine Empire into one of the great empires of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe and Asia, extending from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521291631
• ISBN13: 9780521291637
• Release Date: October 1976
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Understanding the world today

Great detail of history that shows you how we got to this point. This gives the reader a chance to explore and understand the Middle East society.

A Short History of One of the Longest Lasting Empire.

This book shows that the Ottoman Empire lasted over 600 years because of their tolerance and idealism that promoted freedom of religion and speech that was unseen in the world during the time. It's important to note that propagandists who do not like the Ottoman Empire and the author's views on certain small subjects dealing with the Ottoman Empire will likely give negative ratings, but these are understandable, since few historians have covered the topic of the Ottoman Empire, since it is the most under-researched empire in history.

Excellent history

Thorough and accurate; a solidly impressive look at a historical area much neglected in the west. Shaw's extensive volume covers much more than the Armenian experience in Ottoman days, yet those who are single-minded about this particular topic have nothing better to do than to try and discredit. Witness Reviewer "Dr. Mario-Jean Bouchard," and his seedy attempt to knock not only Prof. Shaw, but the work of others that don't conform to his zealous pro-Armenian views. "Many unsupported references"?? If anything, "History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey" has a multitude of well-referenced facts. Bringing up the highly unprofessional methodology of similarly genocide-obsessed pseudo-academicians as Robert Melson and others provides sad commentary on the unethical methods of fanatics. Armenian extremists actually bombed the Los Angeles home of Prof. Shaw in 1977, because they did not approve of the "Armenian" chapter of this book. Reviewers with an agenda provide a different form of terrorism when their mission is to attempt the destruction of a person's credibility... and there are times when the weapon of the pen can be mightier than the sword.

Excellent, scholarly and very accurate!

Very impressive research into an extremely important chapter of history that encompasses over 200 years in one of the most important empires of the world! Provides a wealth of statistics from many credible sources, and presents a very objective, scholarly account of events. ONe of the best books I've ever read--HIGHLY recommended!!!

Russian Records on Methods Employed for Turkish Holocaust

Prof Shaw's excellent documentation of the Turkish history is, in fact, in line with the Russian view of the Turkish Holocaust. I also agree with the respectable scholars and Prof Shaw that the Armenian denial makes it worse. Besides, we are talking about the Turkish people that were directly impacted by the Armenian genocide of the Muslim people in Russian Armenia and Eastern Anatolia. Turks never stop writing about the genocide they have experienced in 1914. Referring to notes from the personal diary of Russian General L. Odishe Liyetze on the Turkish front, he wrote, "On the nights 11-12 March alone Armenian butchers bayoneted and axed to death Muslim people in areas surrounding Erzincan. These barbars threw their victims into pits, most likely dug according to their sinister plans to extinguish Muslims, in groups of 80. My adjutant counted and unearthed 200 such pits. This is an act against our world of civilization." On March 12, Lieut-colonel Griyaznof wrote (from an official Russian account of the Turkish Holocaust), "Roads leading to villages were littered with bayoneted torsos, dismembered joints and carved out organs of Muslim peasants...alas! mainly of women and children." "The killings were organized by the doctors and the employers, and the act of killing was committed solely by the Armenian Army. Large holes were dug and the defenceless Muslim people were slaughtered like animals next to the holes. Later, the murdered Muslims were thrown into the holes. The Armenian who stood near the hole would say when the hole was filled with the corpses: 'Seventy dead bodies, well, this hole can take ten more.' Thus ten more Muslims would be cut into pieces, thrown into the hole, and when the hole was full it would be covered over with soil. The Armenians responsible for the act of murdering would frequently fill a house with eighty Muslims, and cut their heads off one by one. Following the Erzincan massacre, the Armenians began to withdraw towards Erzurum... The Armenian renegades among those who withdrew to Erzurum from Erzincan raided the Moslem villages on the road, and destroyed the entire population, together with the villages."Great work and keep up the good work.

Superb Scholarly Research

I always admired Prof Shaw's careful research regading the Turkish history. It is also interesting to note that in the section titled 'On Armenian Collaboration With Invading Russian Armies in 1914,' he does expose the well-known Armenian crime of genocide against the defenseless Muslims in 1914."In April 1915 Dashnaks from Russian Armenia organized a revolt in the city of Van, whose 33,789 Armenians comprised 42.3 percent of the population. Leaving Erivan on April 28, 1915, Armenian Army reached Van on May 14 and organized and carried out a general slaughter of the local Muslim population during the next two days."