The Ottomans: Khans, Ceasers and Khalifs
Here’s another nonfiction book about the Ottoman Empire. I think this is the best one I’ve read so far. This book begins it’s story in the fallout of the Mongol Empire’s slow collapse. The Turks were a steppe people originally subsidiary from the Mongols, who moved into Eastern Anatolia where they came into conflict with the Romans. This book takes a look into that less-frequently-told story, about how the Ottoman Sultans became Sultan, Khalif, Shah and Caesar.
This focuses on telling the undertold stories of some of the less popular characters from Ottoman history; for example, Murad the 4th is today viewed as a largely irrelevant figure who failed to take Vienna, however this book points out the fact that he was a conqueror and led the Ottoman Empire to it’s largest size before his failure at Vienna. Or how Freemasons and Sufis participated in the final overthrow of the Ottoman Empire. And this told the story of how the introduction of the ideology of nationalism led to the spinning apart of this multi-nation empire in a very compelling way… ultimately leading to the Armenian Genocide. This book discusses the buildup to the Genocide in depth, weaving it in as a thread throughout the entire book until it’s culmination at the very end, adding context to it in a way nothing else I’ve read really did.
This is a very good book, but I don’t think it stands on it’s own as an introduction to the topic. You need to start somewhere simpler to understand the vague outline of events.
This was a quick 3~ hour introduction on the topic of Voltaire and Rousseau, the luminaries of the French Revolution. I don’t have much to say about it, besides the fact that I thought it was a nice introduction to the topic of secular humanism which brought about the modern era in the West. I picked it up to listen to between larger listening projects. I felt it was worth my time.
Turning Points in Middle Eastern History
I watched this Lecture series on Kanopy. I enjoyed it heartily and took copious notes. I thought it was very good. It discussed some of the major events in Middle Eastern History, from the dawn of Islam to the present day. If I were to quibble, I think it should have gone to BEFORE the dawn of Islam, to discuss the early Persian Empires, Alexander’s conquests, and also the Mongol conquests. Overall this was very good, and I understand stuff had to be cut for the sake of time. I heartily recommend it.
John Mendez- Book Reviews and More 