Sultans: The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Rulers and Their World

The little details that Jem Dudducu provides are gems. These gem shed light on multiple aspects of what was Ottoman and faint links to the remnants existing today. If you are looking for eastern examples to apply "The Prince" to look no further.

Very good book with very detailed non-biased information

It’s a good book if you know next to nothing about Ottomans. The strong point of the book is that its argument for Ottomans were not the same thing as Turks as Europeans believed. Other than that, the author missed mentioning some really important characters in Ottoman History like Candarli Halil Pasha, Ibrahim Pasha, Safiye Sultan, Sehzade Mustafa etc. Also quite a few mistakes on dates and Sultan names, one of them is that of Mehmet III being Selim II’ s immediate successor, which isn’t true. There are many more major mistakes like that. It’s been OK to read but don’t take anything from this as history worthy.Edit: Osman III didn’t die in 1774, that was Mustafa III. Osman III was his uncle and died 20 years before him. As I read more, I find more mistakes. There is a lot!

Ducucu takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of over 600 years of turbulent history where strangling siblings was par for the course in grasping the reigns of power for would-be sultans in the Ottoman empire. The emergence of this remarkable conglomerate of different peoples and tribes that came to dominate the Anatolia region, and far beyond, makes for a fascinating read. In particular, the author describes how the gradual emergence of nationalism began to fracture the complex bonds and allegiances that hitherto had allowed this empire to hold its own against mighty rivals through the centuries.

I loved this book. So much interesting information and written in a way that makes you feel like you are listening to a story. Interspersed with funny anecdotes. Would definitely recommend!