This history of Selim the Grim, the Ottoman Sultan who trebled the size of the Ottoman Empire in his short reign, is well worth reading. Selim's story and his accomplishments are fascinating -- he was a true military and political genius. The book is excellently written, so much so that I found the parts about military history gripping (that's not an area that usually grabs my attention) and read the book in just a few days. The author also challenges the "Rise of the West" version of history we know so well, showing how much influence the Ottoman Empire had on Europe, and in particular on the voyages of discovery. Sometimes I think the author's claims for the centrality of the Empire go a bit far, but this sort of refocussing of history is important and valuable. ( )

The back jacket and marketed reviews of the book will tell you how well researched this book is, and, indeed, it is researched. That implies objectivity, which is where this book suffers. For example, Chapter 10 begins with a condemnation (rightly) of Christian slavery then immediately follows with paragraphs on how much better Muslim slavery was. Take this, "as wrenching as their [slaves] early loss of freedom was, forgetting one's origins offered a new kind of freedom - freedom from the pain of losing one's family and homeland, freedom to focus on the prospects of their current station." Such a ridiculous justification of much better Muslim slavery fails morally and logically. One could find circumstance in which this could be said to justify any slavery -- why look at the freedom from materialism and worry over your homeland that I have just given you! Now, get back to work! -- This line continues on as the author explains of Selim, the focus of the book in certain regards, "Selim's forces captured an estimated ten thousand Georgian women and children destined for slavery" and "Selim gave his loyal fighters what they most wanted: a fierce battle, plunder, and a license to sexual violence". The passage makes clear there was plenty of rape but Selim did not take his percentage of "slaves and booty" as "in the Selimname, Selim was motivated by purity of thought and action.."
This is part of the larger theme, much beyond and more consistent than Selim, of the book: Islam was far better and in many ways influential than Christianity, Columbus, European culture, etc. The citations in the book are provided at the end of the book with vague reference to the chapter from which they came. It would be the reader's research just to try and connect the dots. What is backed by speculation, hyperbole, the author's ideological desires, the sentiments of other scholars, or those writings contemporaneous with Selim are left out and for you to wonder. There is a lot of cherry picking in this book and then storytelling to tie the fruit together. The book seems clear that its intent, and its appeal, is in firing back at "western cultural" beliefs irrespective of objectivity or fact. Its a story told with a scholarly façade. ( )

Excellent. Well written, informative and thought-provoking. With a bold argument, the author invites his reader to engage in with historical events with a fresh perspective. One may not agree with the strength of the evidence laid out, but the intellectual exercise is not to be missed. I wish there were more books like this. It reminds us that the past, far from being fixed, is always available for interpretation. And it further reminds us of the need to constantly engage with those interpretations to better understand our present. If that weren't enough, it's also just one helluva good read. I couldn't put it down. ( )